Born To Die
by lalala777
Summary: For years, all she knew how to do was kill, and try repeatedly to find an outlet for her grief. Love might do the trick, but as all emotionally-scarred Avengers know, sometimes love is not enough. Sometimes the road gets tough, no one knows why. Meanwhile, let's run into some old friends, and try to save the world, shall we? Tony/OC/Steve
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: **__Hi, you guys, and welcome to what I hope will develop into a decent story! I fell in love with the Avengers as soon as I saw it, and I knew I had to write something. My time is freed up a bit because of summer, so let's get on with it!_

_I will be updating this as I finish up Sweet Disorder, so if you also read that, don't think I'm quite done with it yet!_

_**Disclaimer: **__This is for the entire story: I do not own The Avengers, nor do I own RDJ or Chris Evans, complete opposites, but both whom I'm in love with._

**Born To Die**

**Chapter I**

_Prologue_

_I remember when everything was perfect: when I was a child, and my mother and father were alive, as were my sisters. The universe was content, and all lessons were regarding peace and harmony. My mother passed these teachings onto my sisters and I, and my father would watch us from the balcony, a smile on his face. _

_One day, my mother took me aside. I was the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, she explained, and my purpose was greater than waiting in line for the throne of my father, which my older sister would take after she married. I always knew I had power, of course; it would come on my twenty-first birthday. My two eldest sisters had already been through that. _

_My mother nodded patiently; she had to be, after all, I had only seen ten summers. She led me to a tall tree in the center of the courtyard. This tree has been here for centuries, she told me. It has the ability to take from the rest of the life in this courtyard, yet it does not. It is wiser, and it knows that some of the younger trees do not have the strength to make it, so it takes their sun from them. Then the tree gives the sun to the plants that can grow and bloom to be beautiful, strong trees. It must be harsh, but it still must care. _

_You are wiser than the others, my dear, she had said. It is easier for you to make decisions, but you must be careful. Do not let your lack of caring shade your perception of right and wrong._

_I agreed, like a ten year old would. I left then, to play with the brothers of a neighboring kingdom, unaware of what was coming._

_I do not think even my father, the king, was aware of what was coming._

Chapter One

Fear. That was the first thing that The Academy taught us.

I was paired with a boy my age; we were both eighteen, and we had both been in the system for a longer time than we cared to admit. I had lost more people than I cared to admit.

We were told to always fear each other, fear the next fight. The boy across from me laughed. He told them that he could never fear a tiny _devushka_ like me. They turned to me.

That same boy walked out of the room with a broken leg, a dislocated shoulder, and bruises all over his body. They applauded.

I think I was a sort of prodigy to them, especially to the one they called _Le Sova_. He reminded me I was special. I always knew I was.

I learned languages quickly. I was fluent in Russian, English, French, Chinese, and my native language before the rest had even become more than bilingual. I fought better, I moved faster, and I tired slower. I rarely showed my feelings, while the rest of them flinched when they killed. I had forgotten the lessons of my mother, because I could not let go of my grief. The other students at The Academy had learned to be wary of me.

The scientists that worked there attributed my enhanced memory to my usage of brainpower. They explained that the average person used ten percent of their brain, but I used more. They guessed around twelve percent. I was called a human phenomenon. I never bothered to correct them; they didn't need to know I wasn't human. At least, not exactly.

I never took much to other people, because having relationships guaranteed hurt. However, there was one girl. I taught her everything, and I wanted her to survive more than anything. She was like a younger sister to me, and I had never had a younger sibling before. It was a wonderful, heartbreaking feeling. I wanted her to be better, to learn not to kill.

She was brought in at the age of fourteen years; she was small and cunning. We quickly became known as a team, and not even The Academy would dare split us apart during missions. I was fiercely protective of her, which most did not understand. Neither of us ever seemed to show any emotion. But they did not hold a small redhead in their arms at night as she cried for every person she had killed.

We were partners until one mission. She was twenty-two; that would make me twenty-seven. We were being chased by a very good assassin. He had suddenly come out of the woodwork; no one in The Academy knew who he was, never mind whom he worked for.

I left her in the Moscow apartment we were staying in to go get some food; we had just killed a businessman who had crossed The Academy. We always liked to eat after. It seemed to wash away some of the pain. This one time wasn't as bad as some of the others, when we were asked to go after the children or the entire family.

When I got back, she was gone.

I searched everywhere for her until I was required to come back. She didn't show up in the allotted year they gave to straggling assassins, and so they marked her as dead. I never believed it, but they told me to give it up and gave me a new partner. His name was Alexander, but he is a story that requires more space. Maybe later.

My power also came in while I was at the Academy. I was afraid my heritage would desert me; I was not following any advice anyone had ever given me, never mind the advice that my mother had so wisely bestowed upon me. At the same time, I almost did not want a gift; I did not deserve one. I had killed more men than I could count.

But my gift did come. I spent the night before my twenty-first birthday writhing in pain, as my sisters had. I was thankful that I was a good enough assassin that I had my own room, courtesy _Le Sova. _He had watched my training over the years, and I knew he was attempting to get me as his personal assassin. I knew the rest of The Academy would not give me away so easily, and in a way I was thankful. I did not want to belong to a single person; in another life, I was royalty, after all.

I woke up on the morn of my birthday, glancing around to see if anything had changed. I would not know my power unless I could figure it out, or it would manifest, most likely in a public area. I was oddly dedicated to The Academy, for saving my life, but I did not want them to see my power. They would use it against their enemies, and I didn't think that fair. Guns and knives fighting something that humans could never understand? I would respect my mother and father in that regard, at least.

I requested a few days off, for prayer. In truth, I did not worship at all. Where I grew up, we did not put much stock in faith, or life after death. We lived quite a bit longer than humans, anyways, if we so chose.

However, I knew my steps would be tracked nevertheless, so I went to a church. I snuck upstairs, and tried everything I could to get my gift to show itself. Three days later, I gave up.

Walking down the steps that led to the middle of the church, I felt defeated, until I heard a creak on the stairs behind me. I spun on my heel, a knife already poised in my right hand.

But the man was staring at my left.

I stared too. My entire forearm and hand were covered in fire, but it wasn't hurting me. We both paused for exactly five seconds –I was counting- and I recovered first. My knife slid up into his heart before he could even blink, and the fire on my arm died away.

For the first time in five years, I allowed myself to think of last words my mother had said to me. I still did not dare say them aloud, but by thinking them, I had already begun breaking away from The Academy. Yet, the meaning of the words is still unclear to me; she told me that one day, I would understand.

_Adramela, my daughter, you were born to die._

_Did you guys like it? I'm afraid the first two or three chapters are going to be annoying like this one, but I'm trying to establish a little bit of a background before I delve into the real story._

_Please review!_

_~lala_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note: **__You guys don't get used to these quick updates! There was a long plane ride involved here…_

_Anyways, this is the last nameless chapter. Then the fun (and chapter naming) starts… Goodie!_

**Born To Die**

**Chapter II**

Alexander was the first boy I fell in love with.

Well, I guess that statement is inaccurate. I was engaged, before my kingdom was destroyed. We were compatible, and I was sure I was in love with him. The two brothers that I played with as a child doubted me; they were protective where my sisters were encouraging, and careful where my sisters were carefree. I think life in their kingdom was less peaceful. I hope they are still alive; I have not seen them since my fifteenth birthday.

The boy to whom I was betrothed was a son of a duke, and the sweetest, most unassuming person I had ever met. He brought me flowers and poems, understanding that I needed no wealth. The only piece of jewelry he ever gave me was my engagement ring, which I still keep on my person at all times, but never on my finger – The Academy might've noticed. He was sweet and loving up until the attack. But I do not talk about that.

I suppose I should've thought it odd that I never nursed a broken heart, but then I met Alex. And I never really thought about my fiancé when I was with him.

I had always thought him attractive, and as assassins, we were often caught in compromising positions. Eventually, the cover of a young couple turned into being an actual young couple. The Academy knew nothing, of course. We were not sure if they allowed relationships between agents, but we did not want to test it. We knew we worked well together, so we did our missions as a pair and that, as they say, was that.

A year or so into our relationship, I revealed my gift to him, after making him swear never to speak of it to another soul. I showed him my control over the elements; water, earth, and air had developed after the initial fire, which had always been my strongest. I believed that having all four elements was a stage: sooner or later, the other three would melt away. In my world, the young were always stronger than the old, yet the old were wiser. We found this to be a good balance.

We "dated" for two years before things turned sour. He began getting messy and careless, and The Academy reprimanded him more than once. They never allowed leeway.

One night, we were arguing. You are going to get yourself killed, I told him in Russian. That was the language he preferred to speak in; he had never told me where he was from.

Anastasiya, he began, calling me by the name that _Le Sova _had given me. It had caught on, for I had told them I had no name before The Academy; most thought _Le Sova_ had picked it as a joke. How could I be a princess?

Maybe that would be better, Alexander finished.

I walked out of the room, and threw myself into training. I was thirty, and still the best The Academy had. I never saw Alex again; I always thought they had kicked him out. I wouldn't let myself believe that they had killed him, which was much more likely. I was only thankful they had not called me in for the job.

I walked out of that training room more injured than I had ever been; I knew I had to go swipe the cameras, because I was almost certain I had accidently burnt something to ashes. However, I will forever thank Alex for planting that idea in my mind. I wasn't even sure how my brain had made that connection, but it was an important idea.

The idea of getting out.

I worked on my plan for over a year; everything had to be perfect. No one escaped from The Academy easily, and even if they did, they would be found. I would have to wait years before returning to Russia. Of course, after all I had been through in this country, I did not believe I would like to return.

I didn't know anything about modern appliances or culture, and I was pretty sure 'how to kill' and 'how to seduce a man' lessons would not come in handy. The latter might have, but I had sworn off men. I was bad luck, and I knew I would never be able to settle down with a family or even marry. I was too broken for that sort of thing.

Looking up this information would also be impossible; I did not want to give The Academy any hint that I was leaving. They needed to be shocked enough that they were confer for at least a half hour before reacting past sending a few people after me. A few assassins I could handle, but if they decided they wanted me back, I would need to be far, at least a few countries over.

I had been gathering money for the past year: pickpocketing and swiping the wads of bills that usually resided in my victims' pockets. The Academy never noticed, and the dead man never did either. I tried to take American dollars, for I knew that was where I'd have to go. I didn't know any of the things it would take to transfer there, but I would figure it out after I escaped. Leaving Russia would take enough energy, and if I was caught, then it would all be for nothing anyways.

A week before I planned to flee, I had over a million dollars. I figured it would be enough to get me started, but I wasn't sure. I knew I was taking a huge leap of faith, but I owed it to my family to start a new life, free from killing. Was this what my mother had meant by making the best decision?

I was antsy that entire week; every time I was spoken to, I jumped, sure I had been caught. Yet, no one said a word. I was rather surprised; this agency produced the top assassins in the world, but they could not tell when one of their own was sneaking around? It only made me nervous, more nervous than I had been in a very long time.

The night before, I unlocked my hotel room – I was leaving during a mission, the only way- to find a man standing in the small living room. I had my gun out and cocked before I could register the presence. It was better to be safe than sorry.

The man's hands went up, and he slowly stepped out of the shadows. I raised my eyebrows in a rare show of surprise; it was _Le Sova_. I immediately asked him what he was doing here.

He smiled, a soft smile I had never seen before, and told me he knew what I was planning. Quickly assuring me he had no wish to detain me, he handed me a folder with a bunch of papers in it.

Congratulations, he said, you are now Anastasia Rebecca Woods. You go by Ana. You are a billionaire through your father who died ten years ago, and you own an apartment in Brooklyn. You work as an artist, and you have just returned from visiting your family in Russia. You are an American citizen.

I took the folder reverently from the elder man, placing it carefully on the bar before throwing my arms around him. Thank you, I whispered, you must come visit me.

He agreed, before drawing away and pointing me up a flight of stairs. There was a small jet waiting to take me to LaGuardia International Airport.

At the last moment, I turned back to him. Why Anastasia? I called. This question had been on my mind for a long time.

He smiled sadly at me. Because I could always tell you were a lost princess, he replied.

I was confused, but nodded firmly. I held back tears; I was not going to go soft just because I wasn't a killer anymore.

I climbed aboard the plush jet, wondering why _Le Sova_ would do such a thing for me. I knew that, as much as I wanted to believe it, he had not done it purely so I could be free. There had been talk about closing The Academy for months now; he might be one of those who believe that spies and assassins should be trained individually. I was a decent asset, and a bit of a role model. If I was gone, others would want to leave as well. However, I wasn't sure if _Le Sova_ would help them. They might be on their own.

I carefully opened the folder and spread out its contents in on the small coffee table in front of me. There was a driver's license, some customs paperwork, papers showing a degree from the Art Center College of Design in California in both painting and architecture, an apartment key attached to an address, a car key, and a bank statement that had a number with way too many zeros in it. I felt an urge to give this all back. It was too much. Way too much.

The plane ride went smoothly, and I was glad no one was riding with me because I kept nervously looking behind me, though there was nothing between me and the wall. The entire trip took about nine and a half hours; I only relaxed when we hit the Atlantic Ocean, a few hours in. That was also when I changed from my black bodysuit to a pair of skinny jeans and a t-shirt, shedding Anastasia the Assassin and becoming Ana, the rich, freelance painter. I was thankful that I could paint; my mother had put me through lessons when I was younger –I was a terrible dancer and singer- so I would have a talent. I wasn't amazing, and I certainly didn't deserve a degree, but I had time now. I could learn, and maybe take a class or two.

Time. It certainly was an interesting concept. I had _time. _

We landed, and I was surprised at the number of bags that the two flight attendants brought out. My urge to return everything grew even stronger.

After going through customs –which was stressful- I finally arrived at my new Ferrari. After staring for a few seconds, I shook myself and directed the attendants to put my bags in the tiny trunk. It was so small, we had to put a few bags in the backseat. I lifted an entire suitcase with one arm, and one of the ladies commented on my unusual strength. I just smiled.

I carefully turned the key in the ignition; I had never driven a car without the threat of someone chasing me. After pulling away, I took a few deep, calming breaths.

_Everything is fine, _I told myself. _For once, everything is going to be okay._


	3. You New on the Hero Scene?

_**Author's Note: **__And finally, Ana gets to meet an Avenger! Actually, she'll have contact with two in this chapter! Any guesses?_

_Enjoy!_

**Born To Die**

**You New on the Hero Scene?**

Steve Rodgers was a very methodical person.

You see, Steve had his entire life interrupted by an untimely iceberg, and he had no desire to explore this new Manhattan. In fact, he hated it, not unlike a dogmatic elderly person. So he hung on to his army values, which meant making life systematic and steady.

He enjoyed the meticulous crunching echo every time his fists hit the punching bag. He enjoyed the monotonous drone of the announcer's voice over his "antique" radio. He liked to hear the never-changing drip of his sink as he laid in bed, waiting for a sleep that would not come.

He did not like it when someone was very loudly and obviously moving into the penthouse next door.

Finally through with the annoying sounds, he unwrapped the cloth from his wrists, leaving his apartment for the first time in a long time. SHEILD interns brought his food, and Fury seemed to be happy with the idea of him staying holed up. They didn't really want him back in the world, where he was harder to manage.

He traveled through the short hallway, stepping around boxes and wrapping paper. He was convinced, with this level of mess, an entire family must be moving in. He couldn't believe his bad luck.

Of course, he knew the courteous thing to do would be to offer his assistance. So, running a nervous hand through his uncharacteristically messy blonde hair, he knocked on the already open door. "Hello?" He ventured carefully.

He was surprised to see a woman walk out of another room. She looked to be in her late twenties, or early thirties. She had pale skin -obviously she had not moved from anywhere with sun- and long, wavy brown hair. She was petite, and besides the fact she looked to be in remarkable shape, she didn't look like she could hurt a fly. However, as she approached him, he noticed something odd. He just couldn't place it.

"Hello," she began carefully, holding out a small hand, "my name is Anastasia Woods. Do you own Penthouse One?"

Steve was surprised at her straightforwardness. "Um, yes, I do." He shook her hand lightly, almost afraid to break it. "I am Steve Rodgers."

"How do you do?" She asked casually, a smile stretching across her face. This man seemed to be a gentleman.

He relaxed a bit at her grin, but something still kept him uneasy. "I am well," he replied. Her eyes fluttered down to their hands, and Steve realized he had yet to let go. He did so immediately, blaming it on his lack of recent human contact. "So, uh, do you need any help?"

Anastasia was immediately tempted to reply in the negative, but she reminded herself: _New life, and you really need to make friends._

"Sure," She agreed, "thanks. You don't happen to know how to set up a television set, do you?"

Steve laughed. "No clue," he admitted.

She shot him a small smile, pointing at some boxes she needed to unpack. Steve immediately went to rip the tape off the first one, when it hit him. Why something had seemed so off with this girl.

No matter how many times she smiled, it never reached her eyes. At Steve's second glance, he noticed they were still stoic and cold.

The two hit it off right away. Steve was the nice, sweet friend that Anastasia had never had –well, not for a while at least - and Steve was happy that she was easygoing about everything and, of course, that she was his first friend since the "accident". He didn't count the SHIELD people.

Steve was astonished, and a little bit happy, to find out that Anastasia didn't know much about the modern world either. He told her so, and she shrugged. "I have been in Russia for a long time now," she explained, her voice suspiciously light. "All my college classes were online, and the mansion owned by my family is very cut off from the Westernized world. My grandfather did all my computer work for me anyways."

The man grinned wryly. "It's usually the other way around nowadays, isn't it?" She shrugged. "What did you major in?" Steve questioned.

"Art," she replied simply. "I love to paint, and I even took a class on sculpting." She had memorized all her paperwork on the plane, just in case. Now, she was glad that she had taken the time.

Well, Steve noticed, she certainly didn't act like she really loved it. Shaking his doubts away, he replied that he wanted to show her his sketches sometime. Anastasia consented, on the condition that he would fight her. It was another thing they had in common, and Ana was ecstatic once she found out he had a boxing ring.

Steve reluctantly agreed; after all, he had been taught never to hit a woman. She told him boldly that if they fought, he wouldn't get a chance to hit her anyway. Glancing down at her tiny frame, he seriously doubted that.

They kept working, exchanging stories, until seven, when Steve taught Ana how to order Chinese. He was good at that, at least. They ate, and then Steve left, thanking her for a great day and asking if he could come around tomorrow. Ana agreed, closing the door to her apartment softly. She knew it would be tough to trust again, but maybe she could start with Steve. He seemed like a genuinely nice person; there weren't many of those. She ran a hand through her dark hair, and began to unpack some more. She would not be able to sleep tonight.

Meanwhile, Steve was on his way to bed, excited that he had finally found a friend. And, for the first time since he had been freed from the ice, he slept deeply, free from all the nightmares that had plagued him for days.

Anastasia made her way downstairs the next morning, a dark fuchsia scarf wrapped strategically around her neck in preparation for the cold. She had seen a quaint looking coffee shop on the drive to her apartment yesterday. It was about a block away on a street corner.

She had arrived at the end of winter, which she hadn't realized until this morning. Apparently New York had experienced a rare heat wave the day before, which is why it hadn't hit her until today. As the light snow swirled around her footsteps, she buried her nose in her scarf. The rest of her body wasn't that cold; in Russia, she had been used to this weather, but she had always felt the need to protect her face. She would be glad when Spring hit.

She was hoping someone in the shop could help her set up her laptop, television, and her cell phone –which, judging by the number of people using them as they walked past, was necessary. She had never needed these things, content with the high-tech, very user friendly gear that The Academy had always supplied her with. She didn't even have a clue where to start, and The Fox had not left her any instructions. She supposed she could call the service machine, but she didn't want to seem like a complete imbecile. Well, once she got her hands on a library, she wouldn't need to worry about not understanding anymore. She was smart, and she picked up things quickly because of her memory; she would be ahead.

Suddenly, she nearly got run over when a man with a black ski mask ran out of a large building, directly in front of her. It was a bank, she assessed. The man was carrying a large bag. She distinctly heard someone yell, "Stop! Thieves!", before she, out of instinct, jumped into action.

There would be more than one, she deduced immediately; the person had shouted in the plural. She sprinted after the first one, leaping onto his shoulders and wrapping her legs around his neck. She spun around smoothly, cutting off his air supply until he passed out.

Two more men ran out of the building, and the assassin's face split into a deadly smile. She had missed this.

She had time to reflect as she swung around a pole, knocking out one man by kicking him in the face, and the other by kneeing him in the crotch and taking full advantage of pressure points. _This isn't really immoral, _she mused. _After all, these are the bad guys, right?_

Only when the fourth man stepped out did she get a little worried. He sported giant, claw-like contraptions on his hands, and they seemed to be teeming with electricity. Anastasia suddenly really missed her guns.

She sunk down into a defensive pose, and blew a strand of chocolate hair out of her face. One of the men lying next to her groaned loudly. She kicked him swiftly and viciously with her foot, and he rolled the side, silent.

The man with the claws laughed. "No mercy, eh girl?"

Ana's eyebrows rose, and she frowned. She did not like to speak when she was fighting; it gave the opponent time. "I do not show mercy to those from whom I will receive none."

The man made a show of considering her point. "Those are pretty words for such a tiny girl." The electricity seemed to multiply.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

The man looked up to see who had spoken, and Ana seized her chance. She ran swiftly around him, grabbing his jacket and yanking him toward her, while at the same time kneeing him in the back. There was a sickening crack, and the man yowled in pain. "And that," she hissed in his ear, "is what a slipped vertebrae feels like."

However, she had misread his tolerance for pain. He thrashed harder, and Ana looked up to see a floating figure in front of them. He was obviously the distracter. The assassin roughly analyzed the suit; she reached for the idea that it had some sort of weapon. "Shoot him!" she shrieked, trying to grab the man tighter.

"I don't want to kill him!" The suit shouted back, finally landing on the ground. It walked carefully toward her. "I haven't seen you around here. You new on the hero scene? Because someone should've told you, New York is my turf right now."

"I was unaware that I peed on your territory," she shot back, annoyed that he was speaking so casually when she was struggling. "And if you're going to be such a little girl about this, give it a tranquilizer dart or something!" she retorted. "Please tell me that you have something."

The suit paused, and shrugged. "Hadn't thought of that," he admitted, a small compartment on the suit opening.

Anastasia rolled her eyes. "Of course not," she muttered.

The dart was flying through the air, but suddenly, the man wasn't in front of her anymore. The dart was headed straight for her.

Thinking fast, and praying that this suit wouldn't notice if she used a bit of air magic, she slowed down the dart a bit and forcefully let the wind pull the injured man back to receive it. The dart sank perfectly into his neck, and he dropped to the ground.

Once the man was obviously no longer a threat, the helmet popped off the suit and the man inside it looked around.

After he surveyed the area, he whistled lowly. "Wow that was some fighting. How did you-"

But when he turned around, the girl was gone, as if swallowed up by the wind. "Hey, wait! Where did you go?"

The man in the suit was seriously confused, and a little bit irritated and hurt. "Jarvis, get me a profiling on that woman," he said, apparently to no one.

"Of course, sir."

No one disappeared on Tony Stark.

_So… Steve and Tony.._

_What will Tony find out about her? And will she tell Steve anything? Hmm.._

_Review!_

_~lala_


	4. Bucket Lists and Smoking Hot Assassins

**Born To Die**

**Bucket Lists, **_**Special**_**, and Smoking Hot Assassins**

Steve Rodgers was going _down. _

Anastasia reached for her ponytail holder, putting her hair up and out of her face. She cracked her knuckles, grabbing the stack in front of her. "Okay, Rodgers. Are you prepared?"

Steve chuckled. "Of course. I've been playing this game a lot longer than you, you know." He picked up his own stack. "Ready?" He asked courteously, waiting for his opponent's nod. "_Go!"_

A minute later, Ana pulled her knees to her chest, burying her head. "I can't believe you just beat me at Slapjack," she mumbled. Steve chuckled, getting up to put the cards away. Then, noticing she hadn't moved from her position of "shame", he walked over, picking her up and spinning her around. He did so until she began to laugh. He smiled and looked down at the bundle in his arms. She was so _small. _

"Okay, okay!" Ana conceded laughingly. "You can put me down now!"

"And what if I don't want to?" He asked petulantly.

She kneed him hard in the stomach, and he immediately let go. He got over the slight pain rather quickly, and watched in wonder as she landed on her feet. She was like a cat that way. He had asked about that, and she had simply shrugged, replying that she always landed on her feet. He had gotten the feeling she was talking about something more than just physically.

It had been two weeks since she had moved into the second penthouse, and they had been inseparable ever since. He called her Ana, or tabby cat sometimes – after the conversation about her landing on her feet, which was the only serious conversation they'd ever had- and she called him Steve. Or Stevie, if she really wanted to tease him. They never talked about where Ana had come from after that initial meeting, and Steve never dared mention that she couldn't really draw well enough for an art major, while Ana never asked him why he could pick her up with one arm, or why _he _didn't know much about the modern world.

After realizing that Steve didn't want to know anything about the modern world, Ana started slowly integrating him into her travels outdoors. The SHIELD people didn't question the fact he now had food in his refrigerator; they just stopped refilling it. In fact, they really stopped coming period. Steve was happy about that; now it was just Ana and him.

"Steve? I have something for you."

The blonde snapped out of his thoughts quickly enough to catch the paper airplane flying toward him. "I found this on your computer last night, after you fell asleep," she informed him.

To Steve's surprise, she had found out how to work his laptop in record time. She had admitted that she had lied; she _had _worked with computers, though she still had no idea how to set one up. He had been a little hurt, but it got him thinking: What other secrets was she hiding from him? Well, it couldn't be worse than what he was hiding from her.

He unfolded the paper, looking at the neat handwriting.

_Steve and Ana's Bucket List_

_Go to the movies_

_Make brownies_

_Go skinny-dipping_

_Go to a baseball game_

_Climb to the top of the Empire State Building_

_Make a scene at a fancy restaurant_

_Go clubbing_

_Eat lots of pie_

Steve looked up, and Ana shot him a smile. "What? I goggled 'fun stuff to do in New York City' and this popped up. Do not ask me why it's called a bucket list. I have no idea."

"Do I have veto power?" Steve asked, looking at some items on the list skeptically. Ana nodded. "Okay, we are not going skinny-dipping. And no public scenes at restaurants."

Ana took back the list, crossing off the two he had refused. "That is fine. I don't know what skinny-dipping is anyway." Steve blushed, and she dropped the pen, holding out a hand to him. "Okay, let's go."

Steve let her pull him off the couch, and they left. They had a bucket list to finish.

Pepper Potts gazed at her boyfriend, thinking hard. "You said she just… _disappeared_?"

The billionaire looked up at her from his position on the couch. "Yes! I can make out that she is an American citizen, but her files are locked up tight. Nothing's getting through these codes."

Pepper sat down next to him, wrapping a comforting arm around his shoulders. "Tony, you said this happened two weeks ago? Maybe you should just let it go. Maybe this girl was a one time thing."

Tony sighed, leaning into his girlfriend. "Yeah, Pep, she did seem kind of new to the field. I was being myself, and she didn't swoon like most of them do! What's up with that?"

Pepper rolled her eyes. Of course he wouldn't let this go; he was Tony Stark, and there were files he couldn't crack. "You know I don't understand any of this," she offered, "but use me as a backboard. Why can't you break the encryption?"

Tony shook his head, standing up and walking over to the screen. "There's some weird Russian coding on it, and while I can read Russian, none of it makes any sense."

Pepper leaned back. "SHIELD's files were in Russian, right? You got deep into their system in like two hours."

Tony ran a hand through his hair. Pepper watched him worriedly; it had been a long time since he had been this stressed out, and it wasn't good for his health. "This is a lot more advanced than SHIELD, though I'm sure they were love to get their hands on this girl. She kicked ass better than Agent Romanoff. And I'm pretty sure she's special somehow."

Pepper laughed. "Tony, you think every female that can resist your charms is special."

Tony turned to her slightly, but there was no smile on his face. "No, Pep, I mean _special _special."

Pepper wrapped her arms around him, laying her head between his shoulder blades. "Well," she teased, "Let's take a break from these super special people and go out to dinner. What do you say?"

He wiggled a little, making her remove her arms. "Not now, Pep. This is important; I can feel it." He continued to furiously type, ignoring her.

The strawberry-blonde turned away, hurt. _And I, your girlfriend, am not important?_ She wanted to say, but she didn't want to lash out at Tony. "Okay," she replied in a smaller voice, slipping through the door. She would just go out on her own tonight.

Two hours later, Tony whooped in joy, pumping his fist into the air. "Yeah! Who's the smartest guy in the world? I am!" He began to turn. "Pepper, I did it. I broke into the files-" Suddenly, he realized Pepper was no longer in the room. "Jarvis?" He questioned.

The AI's voice filled the room. "I'm afraid Miss Potts left about two hours ago, Mr. Stark. She said to tell you she was flying back to LA tomorrow morning, and she would come say good-bye before she left."

Tony frowned. "Oh, I forgot about that," he commented. "How long will she be gone?"

"A week, sir."

Tony smiled, "That's not too bad. Jarvis? Suit up."

"Of course, Mr. Stark."

"Did you see the look on that man's face?" Steve asked unbelievingly. "He was scared, I think!"

"Of your muscles, no doubt," Ana returned dryly.

"Ana! You bought _fifteen _pies! Who's going to eat those?"

Ana smiled up at him, batting her lashes. "Well, you are, obviously," she answered innocently.

Steve looked at her indignantly. "What, you bought all these pies, just for me?"

"Remember the bucket list, Steve," she warned. "You have to do this. I already had my slice."

"See? You only had a _slice," _Steve pointed out. "Why do I have to eat fourteen pies?"

They were out on the street, almost to the apartment, when snow flew up in front of them and a big metal suit landed right in front of the two. Steve immediately dropped the bag of pies and stepped protectively in front of Anastasia. She grabbed the sleeve of his jacket, peering around his arm at the suit in front of them. If this was the same suit from last time, she would need to look as much like the damsel in distress as she could.

"Hey," the suit announced. "Um, can I have a word with your little friend there?"

Steve shook his head. "Sorry buddy, but you're really not making a good first impression here."

"Oops, sorry," the suit apologized, holding up it's hands. The helmet popped open, and they could just make out a face. "Hi, I'm Tony Stark. And you guys are?"

"Leaving," Ana interrupted smoothly before Steve could speak. "C'mon, Steve," she told her friend, grabbing his jacket and pulling him toward the stairs.

Steve looked at her curiously. "Did you know that guy?" He asked.

Looking at him straight in the eye, Ana shook her head. "Nope," she answered truthfully. "And I try to make a point not to talk to strangers."

She said goodnight to Steve at his door, walking over and unlocking her Penthouse. "I know you're here," she said defiantly to the empty, dark room.

"Of course you would," a smooth voice said from her couch. Ana switched on her light, watching as the man from the street came into view. He was no longer wearing his metal suit; instead he was wearing a normal, expensive-looking business suit and holding a red and gold suitcase. He looked exactly like the rich men she used to be hired to kill.

"Who are you?" She asked harshly.

The man –well, Tony Stark, if she remembered correctly from the street- chuckled. "I think the better question is: Who are _you?_ Actually, don't answer that, because I already know. Your name is Anastasia Woods, and up until two weeks ago, you were the best assassin that Russia had to offer."

Ana's mouth dropped open, but Tony ignored her shock. "And, correct me if this is just my personal experience, but all master assassins seem to be small, smoking hot, and look completely innocent and harmless. Tell me, do you know the Black Widow? She's Russian, and I can already tell you, you guys would get along amazingly well."

But his last work out choked, because she had him against the wall with her tiny hand around his neck. "How do you know about my past?" She gritted out, and even Tony had to back off a bit at the feral look in her eye.

"I hacked into your files, back from Russia," he whispered. "Can you let me down please? I mean, I'm not picky; if you're really into that kind of stuff…"

She immediately let him fall to the ground. "Well, that worked," he commented cheerfully. Anastasia rolled her eyes.

"Well?" she prompted. "What do you want from me?" The brunette crossed her arms over her chest, and Tony's eyes moved. "And if you look at my boobs one more time, I swear I'll kick your ass," she warned.

The billionaire's eyes quickly met hers: brown against brown. "I don't want anything from you; I'm Tony Stark. I have everything I'd ever need and then some."

"Then can you leave?" Ana asked impatiently. "I have a life to carry on with."

Tony's eyes widened, and he smirked. "Ah, yes, with your Steve over there. I wouldn't want to interrupt that." He began to move around the room, examining her possessions; she watched him carefully. "You guys seem to have the perfect _friendship_ going—what is this?"

He held up the phone she had never set up, the box directly under it. Ana shrugged. "So what? I don't know how to set up computers; I just hack them."

His jaw dropped. "What, so you can hack into computer systems easily, but you can't follow step-by-step instructions?"

"I'm not going to waste my time reading that miniscule book," she defended.

Tony took one look at all the unused technology in the room, then immediately made up his mind. He would tell himself that he made this decision because this girl was pretty and he liked a challenge, but honestly, he really wanted to help her. Settling in the twenty-first century couldn't be easy, and he had the next week to himself. But either way, he found himself wanting to see this girl again. There were things she was keeping from him, and he was curious and bored with his life right now.

"Tell you what," Tony began, "I will come back tomorrow – nine a.m. sharp- and put together all these for you." He gestured to encompass the entire room. "And then, I will take you out to lunch. Deal?"

Ana immediately protested. "Uh, no!"

The CEO of Stark Industries shook a finger at her. "Nope. Because if you don't agree, I'm going right over there to Stevie-boy and telling him you used to kill people for a living." Ana kept silent.

Tony clapped his hands together. "Okay, then! I will see you tomorrow!"

After she had practically shoved Tony out the door, Ana went into the bedroom and threw herself on her bed. God, she knew she used to murder people in cold blood, but what did she do to deserve this?

_Hope you enjoyed! Stay tuned for the next chapter._

_~lala_


	5. Routines

**Born To Die**

**Routines**

Ana walked up the stairs to her apartment, juggling two coffees. She glanced at her watch, groaning when she saw it was a little after nine. That meant-

"Sweetheart! I thought you skipped out on me!"

That meant that Tony was here. She was reluctantly impressed with his promptness. He was leaning against her door, wearing obviously expensive jeans and a Stark Industries t-shirt. His sunglasses were pushed back over his hair, and he was wearing a smirk that Ana knew a million girls had been shot before her.

She had gone over to Steve's late last night and hijacked his computer, knowing he slept so deeply that a nuclear war wouldn't wake him up. She wanted to know more about Tony Stark, in since he obviously knew her. Of course nothing with any edge would be on the Internet, but public information was better than no information.

Tony Stark was a multi-billionaire, who used to be a playboy before he met his girlfriend of three months, Pepper Potts. Apparently, he really loved her. He used to own a weapons company – courtesy of his father, Howard Stark-, which made sense, because many of the larger weapons that The Academy had used had the name Stark on them. Ana had thought the name sounded familiar when she had heard it last night.

"Tony," she greeted, getting ready to open Steve's door.

Tony pushed off the door, coming to stand next to her. "Sweetheart, did you hit your pretty little head on the way to the coffee shop? That's your door," he said, pointing to the door he had been leaning on.

Ana rolled her eyes. "I know that. I'm giving Steve his coffee."

"Oh," Tony began, sounding disappointed, "I thought you had gotten one for me."

Ana didn't reply to that. She unlocked Steve's apartment, ignoring Tony's comment about how they had each other's keys, putting the mocha on the counter. "He's not awake yet," she replied to the billionaire's unspoken question.

They walked back to her apartment; Ana threw her keys in the bowl on her side table and put her coffee down. She crossed her arms. "Well? Are you going to get started?"

Tony grinned, handing her a rectangle-shaped device. "I did this last night; it's your new phone, completely user friendly. Because I know you're smart enough to get it once you start, Miss I-can-use-twelve-percent-of-my-brain."

Ana snatched the phone from his hand. "Did you hack into all my files?" she questioned irritably.

"Yep!" Tony replied cheerfully. "I was curious, and what else am I going to do? Go save the world? Oh wait, I do that too."

Ana smirked. "So I've heard, Mr. Ironman. So, are you going to fix my T.V.?"

"Yeah, sure," Tony said. "Play around with that, Einstein."

Ana looked at him questioningly, but didn't dare ask who "Einstein" was. It seemed like a reference everyone was supposed to get, and she didn't want him to be suspicious.

Tony began to unload the box that held her laptop, so Ana looked down at the phone. It looked really nice, not to mention expensive. By the time that Tony was an hour into his work, she had figured it all out. Chuckling, she wondered how long it had taken him to make it so easy to use.

The billionaire was so focused on what he was doing – which, she was sure, was perfecting the system as well as getting it started- that she took a moment to wonder what his aim was. He had a girlfriend, so he wasn't romantically interested in her. He didn't really _need _her particular skill set; obviously, Tony Stark could handle any physical problem headed his way.

Well, if he didn't need her to do something for him, maybe she was over thinking this. Maybe he was just fascinated with her. Even though he hadn't mentioned that he'd seen little wind trick, maybe he had, and he was waiting until she trusted him to broach the subject. Well, there was a fat chance of that happening.

"Ready to head out?" Tony asked, interrupting her train of thought. He brushed his hands on his pants, holding one out to her playfully. She didn't take it.

There was a pause, then- "Do you have to-"

"Yes, I have to take you out to lunch," Tony interrupted, sighing. "And I refuse to take no for an answer."

Ana raised an eyebrow, before grabbing her purse and slipping her phone in her jean pocket. "I thought you had a girlfriend," she said.

For the first time since she had met him, Tony seemed flustered. "So?" He tried. "It's not like this is a date. Pepper wouldn't mind."

"Are you sure about that?" Ana questioned innocently. "And we might know it's not a date, but what about the rest of the general populace? You might want to think of a back-story. "

Tony grinned. "Got it covered. I know you're just trying to discourage me, but sweetheart, it's not working."

Ana tore past him. "Whatever. And stop calling me sweetheart."

Tony laughed, following her out to his car. "What? I think it's beautiful irony. You know, have you considered modeling? I think you could pull it off. Why fight?"

Ana thought about this for a minute. "For a long time, it is all I've ever known." She could tell Tony wanted to ask another question, but thankfully, he contained himself.

"So, what are you feeling? American? Italian? Japanese?" Tony asked, and Ana rolled her eyes.

"You decide. I can eat anything." A flicker of a smile crossed her face.

Tony grinned. "Japanese it is. Oh, and backstory? You're one of the architects working on Stark Tower."

Ana tilted her head. "Stark Tower?"

Tony's eyes went wide. "What? You haven't heard… Self-sustaining energy, big, huge, monument with my name plastered..." He gaped at her clueless expression. "Fine. I'll explain it in the car."

_Two months later_

Nick Fury sped silently through the halls of the helicarrier, his first and second in command –Agents Maria Hill and Phil Coulson- right behind him.

"Do we have a lock on Agent Romanoff's position?" He questioned tersely, looking around as they entered the main control room.

It was Coulson who answered. "Yes. Our people are patching me through to her right now." Suddenly, his phone buzzed, and after slipping it out, he typed in a number and put the machine to his ear. After threatening the man for a few moments, he demanded, "Put the woman on the phone." Then he left the room.

Maria Hill spoke up. "Well, Coulson's got Stark, and Romanoff is going for the big guy. Who's going to get Rodgers?"

Fury sighed. "I believe he trusts me. I will head over to his gym tomorrow." He eyed the techies running facial recognitions. "In the meantime, remember what I said. Every _single _agent looking for that cube that is not seriously injured. Also, check on the progress of Phase Two, as the council demands. That might be an asset later. Look up Black Widow's contacts. Maybe someone international can help." He squinted at the screens. "After all, if the Avengers can't handle it, this will be the Earth's war."

Ana would've liked to say that she completely resisted all of Tony Stark's pleas to become training partners -because, as it turned out, that's what he was after- and, by extension, friends, but she couldn't. His promise to show her everything she would need to know about modern American culture and living in it was too tempting; she wasn't getting very far with Steve, unfortunately.

That first night after their lunch, Ana had decided it was best to act more open; it might even get Tony off her back about her history. It worked, more or less, and she reluctantly began to enjoy the billionaire's company. He was funny, smart, and not bad to look at.

The turning point for her really came when Tony set her and Pepper up for lunch and a shopping trip, one thing that he told her that he really couldn't help her with. After all, female shopping wasn't really his thing.

It was nice to get out with a woman, and not have to feel like her every move was judged. They bought everything from lingerie to formal dresses, and when Ana questioned whether she'd need all these things, Pepper only laughed.

"When you're friends with Tony Stark," she promised, "you have to be prepared for whatever situation he could possibly put you in."

Ana frowned from inside her dressing room, slipping on a little red number and the heels that only her balance training could keep her in. "I suppose we are friends," she said nonchalantly.

Pepper made a noise of surprise. "Of course you are!" she replied. "Tony needs more genuine friends."

"I don't really… do friends," Ana spoke up hesitantly. "Everyone I get close to gets hurt."

"I think Tony's made of pretty strong stuff," Pepper ventured. "And, don't tell him I said this, but he likes comparing superhero notes with you." The redhead laughed at her own joke.

Ana tensed. "I'm not a hero, Pepper," she forced out. "And strike me down, but Tony's a hell of a lot better person than I am."

Pepper, for all of her years working a diplomatic position, and no reply for that. Instead, she asked to see the dress, which she immediately swooned over and they bought it, no questions asked.

There was a strange tenseness between the two women, for Ana filled a spot in Tony's life that Pepper had always wanted to fill, and Ana sort of wished she hadn't agreed with Tony's proposition. Having no friends was so much easier.

But Ana had worked out a routine, and she rather liked it. She would box with Steve in the morning, eat a quick lunch, head over to Stark Tower, work with Tony, either with training or on a more flexible bodysuit for herself – which she had vehemently denied, but Tony had insisted- and then he took her to see a sight, a movie, or took the time to explain something she didn't understand. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, she'd eat dinner with Steve. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, she'd eat dinner with Pepper and Tony, who had accepted her into their dysfunctional little Stark family, though her role was unclear. On Sundays, she would eat alone.

This went on for two or three weeks before _it _happened.

Tony had called her during lunch, telling her to suit up. He would be there in five minutes, and she could immediately tell that he was upset. Ana quickly stepped into the stretchy black and gold –mostly black- material, pulling it up around her body.

Stark had designed it so, once the fabric had settled around her skin, it would harden and not even a machine gun could penetrate it. He had supplied her with every weapon imaginable, including a shape-shifting spear that could change length, grow blades on the ends and the sides, and also function as a normal spear. She hadn't told him about the fire; she wasn't planning on it.

Suddenly, Ironman flew through the window, grabbed her, and flew right back out. Holding her tightly against his chest so she was braced against the wind, he put maximum thrusters on and gunned it. Ana curled tighter against his suit, trying to ignore the whipping wind as it whistled past her ears. "I'm going to kill you, Stark! Are you trying to punish me for something?" She growled, but he didn't reply. She hated yelling when the point could be made through soft, deceptive whispers. Unfortunately, that didn't work on the CEO of Stark Industries.

Eventually, he slowed down, and Ana could make out a giant word in the distance. "Hollywood? That's Los Angeles, correct? I did a mission here once." Still, Tony didn't reply, and Ana was getting worried in spite of herself. "Stark?" She tried questioningly.

He set her down by the third 'O', landing right behind her. She turned to him, putting her fisted hands on her hips. "Are you going to tell me what's going on? Or am I going to have to beat it out of you?" The mask went up, and although she was shocked, she did not gasp. Years of training kept her from many normal human emotions. "Wow, Stark, you look like shit."

Tony let out a bark of laughter. "I know. Pepper broke up with me."

Ana wanted to be shocked and horrified for him, but she couldn't muster up the emotion. A blind man would be able to see those two were not meant to be. "I… I am sorry, Tony," she attempted, laying an awkward hand on his arm. "I know what you're going through."

Tony rubbed his face roughly. "Like hell you do. You've never been in love."

Ana stayed silent, and Tony immediately wanted to take back his words. "Sorry. Look, it's a tough time for me right now."

Ana turned around, a smile on her face. "We're cool, bro," she said, trying out a new phrase Tony had taught her.

Tony sighed in relief. "_Never _say that like that again. You butchered it, sweetheart."

Ana sighed, but with the smile still plastered on her face. "What happened?"

"She said we needed to take a break, that she needed time to think." He laughed bitterly. "Fuck that. She hates me. She told me she didn't understand me anymore."

Ana leaned back against the railing, watching as the sun went down. "Should I go?" she asked finally. "If I'm pushing you two apart… It is possible to get her back, you know."

"No!" Tony interrupted strongly. "If I'm going to win her back, you have to help me… And I haven't decided whether to try or not." Tony paused. "Something big is about to happen, I think, Anastasia," he said after a long period of silence. Ana couldn't believe he used her full name. "I think I'll stop trying to figure you out for now," he added, "because I'm going to need your help soon."

Ana, uncertainly, walked up to the suited Stark and, rising on the balls of her feet, wrapped her arms around him. Tony returned the comforting hug, picking her tiny frame off her feet. He knew there was no way he'd get over the break soon, but at least Ana would help him.

Once her face was out of Tony's sight, the smile melted off Ana's face. Tony's comment –about not understanding- had hurt. A lot. But having friends must be about putting them before you, she figured suddenly. I've done that enough, and Steve and Tony are the only ones I have left now.

_Okay, so I know, skipped a lot of the good stuff, right? Well, they're friends now, and we'll be getting a lot of flashbacks once we hit the actual Avengers plotline, which is in the next chapter! The romance and action are what you guys are set on anyways, right?_

_Sorry to you Pepper lovers. She'll be making a few reappearances, and hopefully Ana can help Tony and Pepper become friends – or maybe together?- again._

_Review!_

_~lala_


	6. What Thing With Fire?

_**Author's Note: **__So, another memory for you guys, and Ana gets to meet the Avengers team! Well, except for Hawkeye and Thor, of course…_

_Enjoy!_

**Born To Die**

**What Thing With Fire?**

_I remember the first time I saw a weapon._

_It was my fifth birthday, and my parents had taken my sisters and me to a beach. It was so beautiful, that while my sisters were playing tag or talking about boys, I would climb to the top of the cliffs and watch the sparkling, turquoise water break in fluffy white foam over the golden beach. I would do this for hours._

_One day, it was stormy. Yet I still traveled up to my cliff, because I loved the sounds and the sights more than spending all the time I could with my family. What a foolish child I was. _

_I was lying on my back, relaxing in the rain, when I heard a roar. My eyes shot open, because this was not the roar of the waves, nor the roar of the thunder. Those were comforting sounds. _

_There was a bear in front of me, maybe seven or eight feet tall. My hair plastered to my frightened face, I scrambled back. The bear followed me, and I crawled faster. That is, until I felt my hand give at the edge of the cliff. I stared up in horror, reaching for some sort of weapon, some sort of protection._

_I found a stick._

_If I hadn't been in such a situation, I would've laughed. But instead, I wanted to cry. I swung the stick anyways, surprised when sparks flew off it. The bear roared in hurt and anger. I hit it again, and the stick lit on full-fledged fire. Jumping in astonishment, the bear and I stared at the stick. I'd like to think we had shared a moment._

_Unfortunately, the bear was not distracted for long, and it lunged for me. My hands -including the stick- flew up to protect my face. The flames did not burn me._

_I heard a battle cry, seeing through the fire my father charge through the trees. The bear fell. An arrow through its back. _

_My eldest sister and my mother rushed to assist me, but stopped when they saw the stick, on fire despite the pouring rain. It immediately went out, and everyone claimed that the spirits protected me. I knew it was something different. _

_This also taught me that anything, even the simplest of materials -a bear claw, a twig, words-, could be used as a weapon. _

AAA

Nick Fury did not know what he really expected when he walked into the gym connected to Steve Rodgers' apartment, but he certainly did not expect what he found.

As soon as he slipped silently through the door, he heard laughing.

"C'mon Ana, there's no way you can beat me again. That last time was a fluke, and you're like five feet tall."

"Five feet and two inches!" a female voice retorted.

Fury moved closer, peering through the door.

The Captain was correct; this girl he was in the boxing ring with was tiny! Fury wanted to chuckle at the proposition that she could beat a super solider, but he kept silent.

The brown-haired girl in sweatpants and a tank top lifted her hand, curling two fingers. "Let's go, Stevie."

Steve lunged forward, but to Fury's astonishment, five seconds later he was on his back. The girl began to walk away, unassumingly, and Fury grinned as Rodgers reached for her ankle.

He had nearly grasped it when the girl turned around, flipping in the air and kneeing the captain in the stomach. Then, she did a back handspring and landed perfectly on her feet outside the ring. If Fury hadn't seen impressive displays all his life, his jaw would've dropped.

"Better than a punching bag, huh Steve?" she asked playfully, her back to both men. "Oh, and you have a visitor."

Fury stepped out of the darkness. It was very uncommon that someone know he was present if he didn't want them to. "Captain," he greeted Steve, and the girl's back straightened.

"Captain?" she questioned, her voice innocent, but slightly accusing. "Is there something you haven't told me, Steve?"

She walked up to the director as Steve exited the ring, unwrapping the cloth from his hands. "You must be Director Fury, of SHIELD."

If there was one thing Nick Fury hated, it was not having the upper hand. "And you know that because..." he trailed off, shooting a look at the Steve.

The super solider jogged over. "Yeah, Ana, how did you know that?"

Ana cringed inwardly. "I'm going to leave so you gentlemen can talk. Steve, I'm heading over to Tony's. I'll call you later."

Fury stared after her. "Who is that?" he demanded.

Steve paused, as if unsure he should reveal any information. "Anastasia Woods," he finally told the director. "She's a billionaire; just moved here from Russia." Seeing Fury take this in, he stiffened. "And you can't pull her into your little games."

Fury shook his head. "Not planning on it," he lied, too well for Steve to pick up on. "Tony?"

"Tony Stark," Steve supplied. "He's a friend of hers."

Fury was surprised; the fact that this girl was friends with two of his avengers seemed a bit to coincidental. He also noticed that the super solider seemed rather bitter about it. "Do you like him?" He asked casually, gaging Steve's reaction.

Steve hesitated, and then nodded. "I suppose. He thinks he's good for Ana, I think. But after Pepper, he's only going to break her heart."

"Miss Woods seemed to be the type that can handle herself," Fury tried. Then he cringed; this whole thing was only going to make his job harder, unless...

He quickly debriefed Steve about Loki and the cube, asking him to be in tomorrow for a meeting. Fury watched him go, a smile forming on his usually scowling face.

Unless he kept his good eye on Ana, whom he didn't believe was who she said she was. And there was only one way to do that...

AAA

Ana rode up the elevator, frowning when she heard voices as she exited. "JARVIS, who is Tony speaking to?"

As always, the AI answered promptly. "Agent Phil Coulson, Miss Woods. Of SHIELD."

Ana pursed her lips. Two different SHIELD agents in one day? This was very odd; maybe she chose the wrong friends. Steve had obviously been keeping the fact he was 'captain' –of what, she did not know- from her. Well, maybe it was top secret. Then she nodded, acknowledging JARVIS. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Miss Woods." There was a pause. "Mr. Stark asks you to enter."

Ana pushed open the door to see Tony refusing to be handed a file.

"I don't like to be handed things," Tony explained to the man, who was rolling his eyes.

Putting on her best smile, the brunette sauntered into the room. "Well, that's okay because I love to be handed things," she interrupted smoothly, taking the folder from the man and thrusting it in Tony's arms. "Anastasia Woods," she greeted, holding out a hand.

The man took it with a firm smile. "Agent Phil Coulson," he returned, shaking her hand. He was surprised to find out how strong her grip was. "It's always nice to meet someone who can put Stark in his place."

Ana let out a light laugh, and Tony stared at her in astonishment. "Well, it's nice to meet you too, Phil."

"Uh, actually, his first name is Agent," Tony cut in, taking Ana firmly by the arm and guiding her to his side. Ana pulled her arm away, walking over to the bar. "Can I get you boys anything?"

Suddenly, Coulson's phone rang, and excusing himself, he retreated to the corner of the room. He began to feverishly whisper to the person on the other line, and Ana noticed he turned to glance curiously at her a few times. Tony also noticed the looks

"He's from SHIELD," the billionaire warned. "You'll never get your life back if you talk to him. Go."

"No," Ana retorted. "I can handle myself just fine." She paused. "I also have no life." Tony chuckled, grabbing a newly made Scotch from her hands.

Coulson ended the call, walking back over to them. He asked Tony a question about the something called the Avenger's Initiative. Tony immediately went off on a tangent about how he didn't qualify. Coulson locked gazes with Ana, and she understood. It all screamed 'distraction' and she was good at picking up on those.

"It seems like you have a lot of homework, Tony. I'll just catch you later." Turning to Phil, she raised an eyebrow. "Hey, are you going by Brooklyn?"

"Yeah," he instantly replied. "I can drop you."

As soon as they were in the elevator, the SHIELD agent had a gun in his face. "What do you want from me?" she asked harshly.

Coulson held his hands up. "My director wishes to speak with you."

"About?" Ana prodded.

Coulson sighed. "Get the gun out of my face, Miss Woods, and I'll tell you."

Ana glared at him suspiciously, but switched the safety on and slid the gun back up her sundress. "I don't even want to know where you put that," he joked.

A smile flickered on Ana's face. "It's Ana," she offered. "Forgive me. I don't really trust handshakes."

The agent smiled. "Call me Phil," he returned. "And neither do I."

Phil explained to her the Avenger's initiative, not informing her about the people who were in it, saying she would know soon enough. He told her that Fury wanted her to join.

Ana shook her head. "My answer is no; you can tell your Director Fury that." By this time, they were in the lobby, and she began to walk away.

As soon as she exited the building, she ran into someone. Before she could excuse herself and be on her way, the person began speaking, gripping her by the forearms. "I'm afraid I don't usually take no for answer."

She looked up, eyes narrowed, into the eye of Nick Fury. "Please get your hands off me before I am forced to do something rash," she asked evenly.

Fury let go of her. "Let's not cause a scene. Come with me."

"Why?" Ana asked, her patience running thin. "I am through dealing with your sort of people."

Fury crossed his arms. "Miss Woods, a war is about to begin, and I am desperate for some above average people. At least hear me out; my people may be a little more different than you expect." He paused, then seemed to mull over her words. "Wait – you have worked with government officials?"

Ana sized him up for a moment. There was no way she could trust this guy – he seemed to be the ultimate spy – but he did seem earnest in his quest for help. Finally, rolling her eyes, she grabbed his arm and pulled him over to the van he had obviously thought was well concealed. Oh well, even the best still had lessons to learn.

"Of course I have worked for officials – have you ever seen any normal people fight like I did back at the gym?" Fury remained silent, apparently wishing to hear her story. "Look, I worked for the Russian Academy before I was able to escape a few months ago. I was hoping to restart my life, but that obviously didn't work. I guess I will help you now. Agent Coulson said you wished for me to be a part of this… Avengers group? And Tony did not qualify?"

Fury grinned wryly. "Oh, Stark qualified. I just don't want to boost his ego." Ana shrugged, then nodded. "What age did you begin at the Academy? You were an assassin, I guess."

"Yes, I was," Ana replied bluntly, as if daring him to pass any judgment. "And I was around the age of sixteen."

"What did you do before that?"

"I have no memory of the events in my life before I joined the Academy," the brunette lied with a straight face. Fury was obviously good; he didn't believe her. But he didn't say a thing. _At least, not yet, _she amended to herself, prepared to throw up her walls.

But Fury said nothing more to her the entire ride; they then transferred to a small helicopter. About twenty minutes later, they landed on some sort of landing strip on water, which Fury called a helicarrier. He quickly gave her directions to the control room, telling her to go meet her new teammates. Squaring her shoulders, she walked on.

However, nothing could prepare her for what she found in that room.

"Steve?"

"Ana?"

"Anastasia?"

"Tony?"

"Tony!"

AAA

Natasha ran through the halls, smoothly sliding past SHIELD agents and scientists. Fury had called her, telling her that there was a situation in the control room, and she had immediately left the shooting range to tend to it.

Coming to a skidding halt after brushing past a brunette, she looked around the room at all the shocked faces. "What?" she asked, voice hard. "What's going on?"

A startled, but strong, voice came from behind her. "Natalia? _Eto ti?"_

Natasha's eyes widened, and swallowing hard, she turned to the owner of the voice. _"Anastasiya?" _There was a huge, gaping pause. "_Ya tak silno skuchal pa tibe_," Natasha admitted, walking up to the smaller woman who immediately threw her arms around the redhead.

Tony raised his hand. "Can someone explain this to me, please?"

Ana turned to Tony. "Nat was my partner for many years, but then she disappeared." She turned to Natasha. "We will talk later, yes? We have much to catch up on."

"Yes we do," Natasha retorted. "Hey, can you still do that thing with fire?" She winced as Ana suddenly elbowed her in the stomach, catching the brunette's warning eye. Guess she wasn't supposed to share that information…

Every eye on the room was immediately on Ana. "What… _thing _with fire?" Fury questioned suspiciously. "I thought you were just an assassin."

Steve nearly jumped out of his seat. "Just a what? You were an _assassin? _Ana, you couldn't hurt a fly!"

"Oh yes she could," Natasha smugly answered for her. "And she was damn good at it too – best in the business actually."

Ana reached out. "I'm sorry, Steve-"

"What _thing _with _fire?" _Fury yelled, bringing his fist down on the table.

"Nothing," Natasha replied. "It was a funny parlor trick – something to distract future targets. I could never get the hang of it, though." Fury gave her the look, saying that she'd spill the beans sooner or later, when an agent spoke up from the facial recognition section.

"We've got a ninety-four percent match, Director!"

A man Ana recognized as Bruce Banner – the Academy had talked of recruiting his alter ego before they realized it was completely unmanageable – spoke up. "He's not exactly hiding, is he?"

Ana still didn't know exactly whom they were talking about, but didn't really care. She just wanted to fight some bad guys. "Where is he?"

"Stuttgart, Germany," the man replied.

"I'm sending Stark, Widow, Woods, and Rodgers for this mission. Banner, we need you back here; after all, the Tesseract and the God could be in completely different locations," Fury directed. "Avengers, bring him back, alive."

"Well, damn," Ana joked. Stark laughed, but gave Ana a look. He wanted to know how she got here, and how the hell no one told him about it.

"What's our plan?" Natasha asked.

Steve, surprisingly, was the first to speak up. "I might have an idea…"

AAA

_Ok, so things are finally picking up a little. Sorry for the kind of extended prologue…_

_Russian translations: Is that you?  
I missed you so much._

_So, Germany will be fun. Things will be going a little differently from the movie, but this chapter is really the farthest I go from the storyline._

_Review!_

_~lala_


	7. Complicated

_**Author's Note: **__Thanks for all the review and story alerts! I really appreciate it, and I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!_

**Born To Die**

**Complicated**

"_Sister, are you even interested in men?" Aina questioned, playfully shoving me in the shoulder. She was closest in age to me, and we shared the burden of youngest equally, though my eldest sister, Eleonora, believed hers was the greatest obligation. I secretly agreed with her – she had to worry about marriage and eventually taking the crown- but I would never admit to it._

_We lay facing northeast, hands folded on our stomachs. The horses grazed nearby on a verdant field, content with their pickings. We had both always despised lessons, trading written knowledge for the teachings to be gathered from the whispering of the winds, the stars. I was born as part of nature, my father would say. _

"_Nay, Aina. I am more fond of this, of laying here and absorbing the sun, than of betrothal and marriage," I replied. It was true._

"_I am jealous, truly," she told me, twining her hand with mine. "Men are much to complicated; stay young for as long as you can stand it."_

AAA

Ana was about to scream from frustration. She had never spent time with Steve and Tony at the same time; she had always had the feeling that it wouldn't go over well. As usual, she was right.

They had boarded the Quinjet after Steve had his epiphany, which he still hadn't told the rest of them. He had only asked Natasha to procure a very fancy dress, and asked Tony to suit up. Meaning, of course, a tuxedo. He hadn't even looked at Ana.

"Okay, here's the plan," Steve called. They all gathered around a small table, and Ana ended up next to the Captain. Then Stark squeezed between them, and Ana could only roll her eyes.

"Agent Romanoff will remain in the jet, ready to call for help or assist with the guns." Natasha nodded. "I will stay outside in case our target emerges. Ana and Stark, meanwhile, will be inside."

Tony gave Steve an odd glance. "But… everyone knows who I am. I'm sure Agent Barton will be able to figure out that I'm there."

"But we're counting on that," Steve smiled, as close to deviously as he could.

"Who's Agent Barton?" Ana piped up. "No… wait. That was the agent that kidnapped you, Nat. I thought he worked for SHIELD?"

Natasha gave her a tight smile. "He does. He's under a hypnosis spell."

Ana gave her a full-fledged grin. "Got a crush, Nat?"

"Want to get beat up, Ana?"

"Like you could."

Natasha was about to test that theory when Steve interrupted. "Anyways…" They immediately straightened. "Barton will wonder why Tony is there, and he has no idea who Ana is, so this will work out in our favor. Anastasia can pretend to be a dumb blonde-"

"Brunette," Tony and Ana said at the same time.

"Jinx! You owe me a car," she called out.

"What?" Tony gasped. "It was a soda last time I checked."

Ana shrugged. "Yes, but you are a billionaire, and I really want a Porsche. Nat and I can split it, you know, do missions in style." Natasha raised an eyebrow, but nodded her approval.

Tony rubbed his temples. "I regret ever teaching you that one," he grumbled. The brunette only smiled.

Steve sighed in exasperation. "Focus! Plus, Ana, you owe me."

Ana's happy expression melted into a neutral one. "I do. I _am _sorry, Steve."

"I know," Steve smiled softly, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Just… no more huge secrets, right?"

Ana shared a split second glance with her fellow ex-assassin. "No. None, I promise," she swore, placing a hand over the one on her shoulder.

Tony's eyes widened. "Okay! Plan, right Steve? We were going over the plan."

Rolling her eyes, Natasha barely restrained from calling the playboy out on his jealousy. It was almost depressingly obvious. "Go on, Captain," she offered.

Steve blushed. "Well, really all I was going to say was Ana could surprise him and kick his ass while you run into a back room and suit up."

Tony clapped his hands together. "Alright! Good plan, Spangly Pants. Now, mind explaining how you became part of the Avengers, Ana? Because that part's still a little fuzzy for me."

Ana opened her mouth to reply, but JARVIS came over the intercom. "Landing time is twenty minutes. Might I suggest getting ready, Mr. Stark? Miss Woods?"

Ana exhaled, relieved. "Good idea, JARVIS. Nat, I suppose you should go help auto-pilot land?" Natasha nodded. "Okay, and Tony, we can change in the back room."

The two billionaires left Captain America to stare after them, his brow furrowed.

"What? Natasha expects me to wear _this_?" Ana exclaimed, holding up a slinky, yet elegant red number.

Tony grinned, his thoughts obviously running elsewhere. "I think it will be perfect," he purred. "You've never worn worse?"

Ana snorted. "Of course I have. I've killed someone only wearing lingerie." She clapped a hand over her mouth in shock, and then slowly removed it. "Pretend I didn't say that."

Tony nodded, but his slightly evil smile said other things. "Don't worry about it," he said, his voice innocent and slightly higher pitched.

Walking behind some boxes, Ana shimmied out of her jeans and tank, slipping the soft silk fabric over her head. She closed her eyes; she had always enjoyed the rustle of expensive material as it settled around the skin. "I know when a person is lying, Mr. Stark," she said conversationally. "It was part of my job description."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Tony added, and she could hear the smile in his voice, as well as see the reflection of the Arc Reactor against the wall.

Ana couldn't reach the zipper of her dress; figuring she'd ask Natasha in a minute, she walked up to the old mirror hanging on the wall. Steve had probably put it up before they left, knowing she'd need it. She began applying the eyeliner and mascara that the redhead had given her, and then began working on the bright red lipstick.

She was so focused on the simple, yet gratifying, task that she barely noticed the presence behind her. Suddenly she felt a gentle hand on the small of her back, and another grasp the zipper and begin to pull in up painstakingly slow. Ana felt a smile stretch across her face when she felt that same hand purposely brush her warm skin every time it got the chance. She unconsciously arched her back, and presence behind her moved significantly closer, almost touching in several places. Yet, the zipper did not cease its path.

"Who taught you how to seduce a woman?" Ana asked playfully, yet softly.

"Thank you," Tony replied simply, his voice low. She could feel his breath tease the tiny hairs on the back of her neck, making them stand tall.

Ana tilted her head, and then turned to look at him. His hands stayed on her back, still dragging that zipper, but now they were face to face. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Tony chuckled. "Well, obviously my seducing skills are so wonderful that you felt the need to point them out. And your body seems to be responding, so I said thank you, for the compliment."

Ana rolled her eyes, slipping out of his grip. "Come on, playboy. We have a villain to catch." She sauntered out the room, and Tony watched her leave.

Then he sighed; his hands had never felt so empty.

AAA

"Are you two good to go?"

Ana pressed a finger to her ear, activating the earpiece. "Yes, we are entering the building now."

"Okay," Steve replied. "I have your back. Agent Romanoff?"

"Ready to fire whenever you give the signal, Captain," Natasha commented, keeping the jet floating unobtrusively just above the clouds.

Tony held out an arm. "Shall we, my dear?"

Ana slipped a hand through his elbow, pasting on a huge, stupid smile. "We shall, but behave," she warned. "I don't want to give you a black eye in public, but I will."

Tony looked down at her with mock frightened eyes. "Oh no! Not the face!"

Ana had to hide a smile.

They walked inside, Ana flinching as a few flashes went off. She had never liked having her picture taken, or being ogled for that matter. Tony immediately led her to the side of the room, plucking two champagne glasses off a passing tray and holding one out to her.

After thanking him, she tilted her head. "Who is this guy again? No one's really told me."

Tony shrugged. "Some God of Mischief and Lies. It doesn't matter; we'll still win."

Ana's eyes widened, and she turned gripping Tony's arm tightly. "Tony," she began evenly, but he could sense the desperation and disbelief in her voice. "What was his name?"

Tony looked up, then smiled. "See for yourself. He's walking down the stairs."

The brunette whipped around so fast that she would've been dizzy if she had not been trained for quick movements. Mumbling something about him waiting there, she nearly ran to their enemy, touching his shoulder softly.

The God turned, and then stumbled back, saying something that the billionaire could not hear from that distance.

Tony's wine glass shattered into a million pieces on the floor when Loki lunged forward… encompassing Ana in a hug so tight that it looked as though he was attempting to kill her from asphyxiation. Tony noticed that, where their bodies touched, a soft golden light peeked out. He hoped none of the other guests would notice.

"Stark, what's going on?" Steve asked him. "Why are you guys so quiet?"

Tony smiled grimly. "Well, I believe Ana knows the enemy."

AAA

_Back a few seconds…_

Ana barely tapped Loki on the shoulder, almost afraid. "Loki? Is that you?"

Loki turned, and then swayed in astonishment. "_Adramela?"_

They stared at each other for a few second, and suddenly Ana was wrapped up in Loki's arms. "How are you alive and well?" he whispered. "Your world…"

"Was destroyed," she sighed. "I made it out, though no other did."

Loki grimaced. "I am sorry. My heart is full of happiness, Mela, I thought I would never see you again."

Ana pulled back, eyes shining. "How fares your brother? I miss him also."

Loki's eyes went cold. "He is not my brother."

Ana gasped. "What? I had always thought… Odin is your father!"

Loki smiled bitterly. "Not as your father is Freyr. No, I was taken. I am… I am of the Jotun," he finished in a whisper.

Ana was silent. "There is nothing wrong with that fate, Loki," she finally said.

He paused, but decided to take a different track. "I noticed your power came in. What is it?"

There was an awkward silence, and Ana couldn't hide her discomfort. Loki gave her an understanding look. "You don't trust me," he realized. "Mela, we played together as children – hell, I saved you from being taken hostage by that mare1 that bore a grudge against your father."

The brunette shifted uneasily. "I apologize, Loki. We are on different sides." She motioned toward an angry-looking Tony Stark, who was watching them like a hawk. "I cannot turn my back on my friends."

Loki clasped her shoulder. "Very well," he conceded. "I will see you on the battlefield, Adramela Alfheim."

She knew he would never hurt her, but she had still never seen Loki of Asgard like this: bitter, confused, and hopeless. It was frightening to see him so mislead.

"The battle has already started, brother," she shot back. He smirked, disappearing from in from of her and reappearing across the room, taking a machine out of his pocket and pressing it to some rich guy's face.

She began walking purposefully toward him. "Suit up, Stark," she ordered through the comm unit.

"Why should I?" he yelled back, though she saw him headed toward the bathroom. "You were the one fraternizing with the enemy!"

Ana groaned; two days with the Avengers and she had been running into old friends constantly. What was it with SHIELD and digging up a past she had no wish to confront?

Well, she guessed she would have to reveal her gift to Loki sooner than she had anticipated.

Looking around to guarantee no one was watching she heated her palm up magically, pressing the sizzling digits to Loki's back. He almost squealed, jumping high into the air. He allowed the other man to run off; Ana presumed Loki was finished with him.

She stood back, allowing her entire body to catch on fire. Loki studied her, a smile slowly stretching across his face. "All the elements?" he questioned. She nodded. "That is quite some gift, my dear."

"Thank you," she returned evenly. "I do enjoy it myself."

"Your cleverness could use some work, however."

What-"

Loki snapped his fingers and ropes wove themselves around her wrists. Ana immediately attempted to set them on fire, but they wouldn't budge. She looked up at the god angrily.

"They cannot catch on fire," he informed her. She struggled harder, but she couldn't escape. Loki chuckled as he tied the rope tightly to a nearly granite post. "What would your father say, his prized daughter reduced to such a state?"

"He'd say it was normal, especially around such a mischievous god," she quipped. Then her expression became pained. "But he can no longer say anything; he is gone, and I have no father. But, Loki, you do. You have a father, and a family. Please do not push them away," she pleaded.

Loki only shook his head, kissing her softly on the forehead. "There will be a place for you in my new kingdom, my sister. Until then, please don't get in the way." He paused. "You are the only one who has not strayed from me, or treated Thor better. Try not to get hurt."

Her shouts of his family's love for him followed Loki out the door, but he shook them off. He had a Midgard to conquer.

Ana pressed her head against her shoulder. "Steve, some help? I'm a little... tied up."

"Coming, Ana." Steve came running through the door, taking in the sight. "Oh, Tabby, what did you get yourself into?"

"Just untie me," she sighed impatiently. "Loki's going to draw attention to himself, we have to go now."

"Big ego?" the Captain questioned.

"Picture being in your younger sibling's shadow for over a thousand years," Ana explained as Steve attempted to break rope. He winced. "Yeah," she added, "pretty bad. He's going to want a show."

"So we're like party crashers? I've done that before."

They watched as Ironman flew into the room. "Stand back, Cap," he warned.

Steve took two steps back. "You're… not going to use a missile on her or anything, right Stark?" he asked, a worried edge to his voice.

"Actually, I am going to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever made…" he paused for dramatic effect. "The scissors." Steve rolled his eyes.

The billionaire turned to Ana to let her loose, but there were only the remains of rope left. "Huh?"

"Sorry, Stark, you were moving a bit too slow for me," Ana spoke up from the doorway, twirling a knife between her fingers, "Well, are you guys coming?"

Steve immediately ran past her, but before Ana could follow him, a huge metal hand encased her arm. "Come on, Tony, we have to help."

Tony didn't release her, but instead picked her up by the waist with his other hand. "I just wanted you to know… you have a _lot _of explaining to do. So much, that it will probably take the entire jet ride back to base. And if you leave _any _matter untouched, I will never speak to you again."

Ana nodded firmly, though she knew that if he ever found the whole truth, it would be an accident. There is no way she was explaining her past to anyone, least of all Tony Stark.

"You two need to get out here," Natasha called over the comm. "Steve is fighting Loki alone, and not winning."

Stark flew out, and Ana knew he was saving the day. She hated to be ostentatious, so she walked out in just enough time to gather Loki from his position on the ground and heat up her hand against his shoulder as a warning. His expression was wary. "Your friends do not know of your origin? Not even those two? They seem awfully fond of you."

She pulled him hard against her front, securing his hands tightly behind his back. "You seem awfully fond of your family jewels," she snarled against his ear. "You say one word to anyone and they're gone."

Loki laughed. "You have my word. I can say your gift frightens and intrigues me… the possibilities…"

"Don't even think about it," she warned, leading him toward the Quinjet. "Now remember…"

"I won't say anything," he promised, though she still did not believe him. He was the God of Lies after all. "However, it seems like you have plenty of explaining to do all on your own."

Ana chanced one look at Tony's face, and agreed. Yes, yes she did.

AAA

_So a little more insight into Ana's past. Will Tony and Steve get it out of her?_

_Also, Tony and Ana had a little… moment. How did you like that? FYI, Ana and Loki do not have any attraction towards one another. They grew up together, and children forge stronger bonds than adults do, in my opinion. In this chapter, Loki wasn't really himself. He was so shocked that 'Adramela' was actually alive to be 'truly evil' and all that jazz._

_1: Dark Elves in Norse Mythology. Said to be the bearers of nightmares (Just so you guys know, I do my research. Any questions about mythology or how I'm portraying it are welcome, and you might get a few hints about Ana if you look her name or anything else in the chapter (like her father's name) up. Just letting you know!)_

_Review!  
_

_~lala_


	8. The Meeting of Magic

_**Author's Note: **__Sorry about the long wait; I was vacationing last week and didn't really have access to Internet. _

_Also, I tried to look up a script for the Avengers – you know, so I could get the dialogue semi right. Well, I came upon a shortened, mock version of the script that was possibly the funniest thing I've ever seen. So you guys should check that out._

_Unfortunately, that also means I'll be going from my faulty memory for the rest of this… so this should be fun!_

**Born to Die**

**The Meeting of Magic**

"_Father!"_

_I was more excited than I had ever been, for it was my birthday, and Loki had just gifted me with the most beautiful ring. It gleamed whenever the sunlight touched it, and a huge, sparkling gem controlled the center. When I had asked him what it was, he had told me Odin had retrieved it during his recent visit to Midgard, and he had called it a 'diamond'. It was beautiful._

_Odin was somewhat of an uncle to me, though only because of my close relationship with his sons. He had no other reason to favor my family, and so my father encouraged the friendship between us._

_I had immediately run to my father to show off my new present. I must've been - oh, twelve or thirteen at the time, hating all forms of learning and girlish materials except for, of course, my new jewelry. I burst into the throne room rather unceremoniously, but felt no shame. My father had never been a stickler for the rules, though my mother was. Maybe that was why her and I constantly disagreed._

_My father took one look at me, and the uncharacteristically hard expression as he spoke to the lords melted. It was replaced with a worried one. He nodded to my mother, who stood solemnly and supportively beside him. She returned the nod, walking over to me and taking my hand, leading me from the room. For once, we did not speak._

_And as for the ring? I suppose it burned, along with the rest of my world._

_AAA_

Ana shed the dress quickly, donning her skintight jumpsuit. For some reason she was more comfortable in it. Walking up to the door of the back room, she heard raised voices.

Natasha was trying to convince Tony and Steve to let the matter of how Ana knew Loki drop. They had more important things to worry about, like how to find the Tesseract, and what Loki was planning.

Ana slowly exited the room, ignoring the looks she got from her teammates.

Tony pushed forward, disregarding the Black Widow's protests. "I only need to know one thing," he promised. Natasha quieted, standing back. She knew to pick her fights with Tony, because he tended to argue everything. Tony grabbed Ana's arms and she tensed, throwing him back.

The billionaire was surprised. "Ana? What's wrong, why are you acting like this?" He had seen others' eyes freeze over like that, namely his father, and he wouldn't let it happen to this woman. "What are you hiding?"

Loki chuckled over in the corner, but everyone ignored him. Ana had a completely cold poker face on her face. "This is me, Stark, and I certainly refuse to talk to you about it."

She turned and followed Natasha into the cockpit, but Tony wasn't finished. "One thing?" He asked hurriedly. Ana stopped and tilted her head, signaling she was listening to him but refused to turn and face him. "Are you like him?" He asked, motioning to Loki. "Are you a god? Well, goddess I guess."

Ana's lips curled up in devious smirk, but luckily no one saw. "No," she answered evenly. The relief of the two men was palpable in the air.

Loki had to summon every shred of control he possessed not to burst at the seams with laughter.

The two men and the god sat in silence, listening to the whispered murmurs shared between the two women in the front. Each was lost in thoughts, in doubts, but none more than the resident billionaire.

Tony wondered who Anastasia Woods truly was: she knew a _god, _for heaven's sake. She was a killer assassin – pun completely intended – and smart enough to almost match his intelligence. Well, not in his field specifically, but she spoke at least seven different languages fluently, which was credible. And Tony had accepted that he was attracted to her.

Problem was, the super solider also –blatantly, he might had- felt the same way. And as much as he was sure he was the most charismatic and handsome man on the planet, he had to admit Steve Rodgers held a certain appeal.

"So," he began snidely, breaking the silence, "what was it like, you know, doing time as a Capsicle?"

Steve just looked at him.

"What? Sensitive subject?" Tony just kept going. "I just wanted to make conversation, but I guess-"

There was a sudden crash of thunder, and Loki jumped, looking nervously up at the ceiling.

Tony laughed. "What? Afraid of a little lightning?"

Loki flinched. "Well, I'm not overly fond of what follows."

Ana appeared in the small doorway. "Natasha, keep the plane steady," she called back, her voice as hard as steel. The same nervous expression ran across her face, and she quickly yanked Loki up by the elbow, harshly pulling him toward the front of the plane. Steve was just about to ask what the hell she was doing, but before the words could leave his mouth, Ana spoke again, but this time to the god. "Is it him?" she demanded quickly. "Can you tell?"

Loki gave her a look, but Tony could only pick up on the fact he was answering her seriously. How well did Ana really know their enemy. "No," Loki replied. "I cannot say for sure, but it is not possible. Odin would not dare harness the dark energy required to send-"

_Thump._

The whole plane jerked, and Tony grabbed Ana's arm. "What was that?" he asked. "Ana…"

Suddenly, the door flew open and Tony could see the outline of a man standing on the loading platform. In a whirl, Loki was torn from Ana's grasp and the two unknown man and the God of Mischief were jumping from the craft.

"What the hell was that?" Steve yelled over the deafening sound of the wind.

"I don't know, but he could be hostile," Natasha observed.

Ana sighed. "I know who it is, and whether Thor decides to hurt Loki or take him back to his world, the Tesseract is lost."

In the tense situation, no one questioned Ana's knowledge. Steve was glad he took Norse Mythology in high school. "I'm going down there," Tony told the other three. Natasha nodded, moving back to the cockpit. Ironman shared a look with the other assassin, and she instantly moved to climb onto his suit. Tony prepared to take off.

Steve jumped forward. "Wait! We need a plan of attack."

The helmet clamped down on the suit, and the mechanical arms held Ana tightly. Ironman turned back to Steve. "I have a plan. Attack!"

The two flew out, and Steve moved to grab his shield.

Natasha watched his movements. "I wouldn't go down there," she warned. "Those guys are tough."

"What about Ana?" Steve questioned, securing the shield on his arm. "She's not at the level of the others, is she?"

Natasha gave him a knowing, and slightly insulted, look. "Anastasia can defend herself."

Steve finally seemed to pick up on the fact that Natasha knew Ana. A lot more than Tony or himself did. "What do you know, Agent Romanoff?"

Natasha gave Steve a tight smile, and suddenly the super solider realized that the assassin wasn't going to reveal anything. Instead, she resumed her previous argument. "Loki and Thor are gods, Captain."

"There's only one God, ma'am," Steve retorted, preparing to jump. "And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that."

AAA

Ana grimaced, ignoring the stinging in her eyes as the wind whipped hard around her. She refused to close her eyes; she didn't want to miss anything. With her slight gift for air, she would normally just stop it, but she refused to let Tony know anything about her magic.

"You take Thor," Ana directed. "I'll make sure Loki doesn't run off."

Tony loosened his arms, preparing to drop her. "How do I know you won't just run off _with _him?" He questioned.

"Tony, you're about to drop me next to him," she pointed out. "Obviously you trust me."

Only, with his next comment, was it just her imagination, or did Tony sound… hurt? No, Tony didn't get hurt. His personality didn't really allow it.

"I suppose I'll never learn not to trust Russian spies. Oh wait; you're not actually Russian, are you? I guess I'll never know what you are."

Before she could get a word in edgewise, she was flying through the air. True to Steve's nickname, she landed on her feet, a leg splayed out sideways and her right hand balancing the rest of her body. For a second, she couldn't remember a time that she was unable to do this. Looking up from the ground, her hair tumbling back, memories hit her.

_Ah, well, _she thought, _the bliss was nice while it lasted._

She looked around, noticing Tony had dropped her right below a shelf of rock that held Loki, looking at an empty space of nothing that she figured had previously held Thor. "I'm listening," he said sarcastically, leaning forward.

"To what?" she asked, flipping up and over to land directly in front of him. "The sound of your own voice?"

Loki smirked at her. "Well, it certainly is pleasant."

Her right fist immediately struck out, but Loki simply caught her wrist. Glaring at him, she yanked it back, but he held tight. Confused, she glanced at his expression.

It was full of wondrous awe, and for some reason, it was directed to where their hands met. She looked down, but there was nothing there.

In surprise, she jerked back again. Loki, in retaliation, moved to grasp her shoulder tightly. "Stop," he breathed. "Let it happen. You've never come into contact with another magical being since your twenty-first birthday, have you?"

Ana slowly shook her head, still befuddled. And then she finally saw what Loki's keen eyes had picked up long before hers. Slowly, golden tendrils were winding themselves carefully around both their forearms. Ana sighed in relief. "My magic has been waiting for this," she realized. "It feels…" She took a deep breath, trailing off. Her eyes fluttered closed.

Loki smiled, and for the first time since he had come to this earth, it had no malicious intent behind it. "I know, Mela, I know. Let it go."

A few seconds later, Ana's eyes flew open. She gasped for breath, and for a moment, her body seemed to glow with the same golden light from her arm. Then it flickered out, and Ana stumbled back. This time, Loki let go.

In an instant, Ana felt her clothes change. It was an odd feeling, but soon it was over, and Loki was giving her an once-over. "Do you feel more powerful?"

Ana rolled her eyes and, moving so quickly that he was unable to stop the movement, her hand lit on fire and she punched him in the face. Loki crumpled, knocked out and slightly burned. She knew it would heal quickly, but she wanted to give it something extra. "That'll teach you not to check me out, _zhopa,_" she said to his prone figure. "And yes, yes I do."

She held out a hand in front of her, wiggling her fingers and grinning. Magical people had to be around other magical beings in order to replenish energy. It was pretty simple; magic plus magic equals more magic. Loki was the first magical person she had come into contact with, and for some reason, he had decided to replenish her magic. Her body was thrumming with energy, and she could almost feel the fire burning under her skin.

Waving a hand, a sheet of water appeared in front of her, and she could just make out her reflection on the surface. Her eyes were hooded and her lips were blood red, and a gray cloak covered her hair and body, with only a few chocolate curls escaping the hood.

Carefully drawing the cloak aside, she could just make out warrior clothing before she drew the cloak closed sharply. The new clothes melted away and she was left with her simple black bodysuit. Loki was still motionless at her feet.

"Never had enough power to do that," she murmured. "And I thought I only was able to wield fire." She paused. "Thank you, Loki."

Ana swiftly moved to the edge of the rock, where Steve's shield was in the process of meeting Thor's hammer. "Shit," was the only word she uttered before she dived to the ground. The wave of energy passed over her, and she got to her feet, yelling at the three men below her: "Do you guys need a time out?"

Tony laughed.

Steve only shook his head. "Are we done here?" he asked, looking around at Thor and Tony.

Thor shrugged. "I suppose." Tony agreed.

Dragging Loki behind her, she made her way down to the god, genius, and solider. Thor's eyes lit up in recognition, and although Ana shook her head, the god of thunder lumbered forward and gathered her a giant bear hug.

"Mela! I suppose Loki was glad to see you."

Ana mumbled her reply.

Tony took a step forward, but stopped short at Thor's next words: "For an elf, you are pretty durable."

Ana froze, along with Steve and Tony. Tony attempted to speak, but his words only came out as a stutter.

"A- an… _elf?"_

AAA

_Hope you guys enjoyed! By the way, zhopa is a Russian swear word. You can Google it if you really want to know what it means._

_Review!  
_

_~lala_


	9. Truth Hurts

_**Author's Note: **__Okay, so personally, I don't like this chapter, and I can't seem to make it better. Ugh. I'm blaming it on the fact that I'm sick._

_Anyways, enjoy, and keep in mind that the chapter after this one is going to be good. REAL good._

**Born To Die**

**Truth Hurts**

"Please don't freak out," Ana pleaded.

Tony laughed harshly. "I already have, trust me."

Thor, sensing the tense atmosphere, introduced himself to Steve and they both left to gather Loki and board the jet.

Tony was about to join them, when Ana caught his metal hands. "This doesn't change anything, right?" she asked. "I'm me, it's just that I'm an elf. Nothing else comes with that!"

Tony started walking again. "I know that, and I think you're finally telling the truth," he told her. "Just, give me some times to come to terms with everything."

"Okay," she promised. "Now, I'm going to deny we ever had this conversation, okay? Got to uphold my reputation," she added, smirking.

Tony wrapped a casual arm around her waist. "Girl after my own non-existing heart," he joked, before falling quiet.

They boarded the Quinjet in silence, Tony shooting glances at Ana every chance he got. He pulled off his helmet upon entering, taking a seat next to Steve, who was debriefing Thor. Anything to break the silence.

The ex-assassin slid into the cockpit seat next to Natasha. "If you don't mind me asking," she began, "what happened to you? I mean, back in the hotel room."

Natasha shot her an amused look. "You mean why didn't Barton kill me?" Ana didn't even blush; she knew the time for neatly evading asking the harsh question had gone. She simply nodded. "Hit that button over there," Natasha directed. She did so, and a previously unseen door slid shut and blocked the men from hearing their conversation.

"If it had been me, he would've done so," Ana pointed out.

Natasha gave a tight smile. "I know, and I'm forever glad it wasn't. I guess," she sighed. "This is difficult… I suppose he recognized something in me from within himself. I was young, remember? Early twenties, master killer, but I still cried when I killed. You didn't feel any remorse, as I recall."

Ana exhaled slowly. "I didn't, and I still am not proud of it. I was trying to make up for all the feelings I lost, I think."

"Are you ever going to tell them about the fire?" The redhead questioned bluntly. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Stark deserves to know."

"I know," Ana conceded. "But I won't end up telling him; you know that."

"Just like you will never tell me where you're from? Or what happened to your family?"

Ana reached for Natasha's water bottle, taking a swig. "Not going to happen, Nat. You know that."

"But you're an elf."

Ana gestured for her to go on. "Your point?"

"Director Fury is going to want to know who you are."

Smiling, Ana activated the landing gear as the helicarrier came into view. "Well, then, I'll just have to keep him guessing." She swung around, standing and opening the small door to yell back to the boys. "We're landing!"

AAA

Natasha led Tony to the lab in which Bruce was working. She had seen his eyes light up when he met the Hulk, and she was interested to see how well they worked together.

After asking Natasha to point her to the nearest gym – or place where I can punch things and set stuff on fire without killing someone, as she had put it- Ana had disappeared, probably to disable the cameras and blow off some steam. To her surprise, only Steve had asked where she had gone after more than an hour. Tony had kept silent in his own way, which meant making random jabs at his teammates and laughing.

The first meeting went… terrible, if she was honest. They all had Alpha personalities, used to being the center of attention except for her and Bruce. It made them clash like crazy, and only Thor remained in the control room while the rest of them scattered: Bruce to the lab; Tony to put his suit away, then the lab; Steve to explore the helicarrier; and Natasha to find Anastasia.

"Why are you here?"

These were the first words out of Ana's mouth as Natasha entered the room, watching in carefully hidden awe as the brunette shot ball after ball of fire at the targets, always scorching the bull's eye.

Noticing Natasha's stare, Ana just shrugged as she artfully flipped, still hitting the middle in midair. "It's an elf aim thing; we can all do archery, if nothing else."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Clint would be so jealous; it took him years to perfect his skill with the bow." She shrugged, automatically blinking back tears even though her eyes were, and would always be, dry. "Now I have orders to kill him on sight."

"Do you love him?" Ana questioned, vaulting herself over the target, hitting it from the back too.

"He's my best friend," Natasha replied simply.

"Good answer."

They worked in silence for a while, Natasha soon making her way to the punching bag.

Fury soon called Natasha, and Ana quit with her, offering to walk her up. "I want to grab some lunch anyway," she said.

"Okay," Natasha replied, but before she could go, Ana caught her in a one armed hug.

"Barton's going to be fine," she whispered, "you know that, right?"

For a second, Natasha could imagine that they were back in the Academy, and Anastasia was simply comforting her after another kill. She shook the thought back; that wasn't her anymore. She was fighting for the good side now… right? "I know," she whispered back, realizing Ana was waiting for a reply.

"Good," Ana observed cheerfully, but Natasha could always sense the demon lurking beneath the happy exterior.

She called the brunette out on it. "No masks with me, please," she demanded softly.

Ana raised an eyebrow. "Of course." Tugging Natasha toward the door, she frowned. "Now let's go see what your boss wants."

When they found the director, he was pacing back and forth in thought. "Agent Romanoff, I need you to start working on a interrogation for Loki that will take place tomorrow morning. I want to find out why he allowed himself to be captured."

Ana spoke up. "About that, Director Fury." She began walking toward his four screens at the front of the control room. "Why on earth did you let Loki come back to the helicarrier in the first place? Especially if you suspected he was planning something."

Fury tensed. "I'm not about to inform you of my every damn move, Adramela," he shot back.

The brunette's eyes hardened. "I no longer go by that name, Director Fury, and you'd do well to remember that." She paused, but when he attempted to speak, she began again. "I do not work for you. And for that matter, if I were you, I'd be far more worried about little… _bugs _finding out your every move than little old me doing so." She shot an amused glance toward the small device locked tightly onto the backside of the fourth screen, casually running her fingers over it. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I will see you when you figure it all out." She winked, and then took off in the direction of the lab.

Fury turned to Coulson. "I want Thor here. Stat." Coulson nodded, pressing his comm unit and walking quickly out. Leaning over to talk to a few workers in Logistics, he commanded them to search for security breaches. Of course, if it were whom he suspected –which was obviously Stark- then they wouldn't find anything. Well, it was good to check, at the very least.

Thor arrived, hammer protectively held in his hand. Fury knew he was still wary around them. "You wished to see me?" he asked curiously.

Fury brought his hands down on the table, staring Thor directly in the eye. The god shifted uncomfortably.

"I want to know who Adramela really is, and we're not leaving this room until you tell me everything."

AAA

"I thought you might be hungry."

Before Loki could even look up, a sandwich was tossed in front of him and the door was shut again, securely.

"That is… nice of you," the demi-god thanked her, pulling out the mortal food and bringing it up to his mouth. Then he paused. "It's not… poisoned, is it?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow at her.

Ana brought a hand to her chest in mock offense. "You think I would do that to you?" she asked. "And anyways, Fury would be beyond, well, furious if I killed you. You still haven't told us where the Tesseract is."

"Do you even know what the Tesseract is?" Loki shot back.

Ana shrugged. "Sure. It was originally in the possession of Thanos, and he was planning to use it to enslave all other races. It was taken by Odin during the Great War, and now is in your possession… sort of."

Loki was reluctantly impressed. Finishing off the sandwich, he made his way to where Ana was standing, so they were face to face. Through glass, of course. "You know more than the humans know," he observed.

"Well, now they know," Ana replied innocently. "This room has some pretty high surveillance on it. By the way, Fury definitely nailed you with that whole 'if real power needs a magazine' comment. I thought you were swifter than that."

Loki frowned. "I've noticed," he began, "that Midgard has begun dulling my senses. I suppose yours are that way also."

"My senses are perfectly fine, thank you very much," she retorted.

Leaning towards her, palms resting on the glass, Loki smirked. "Have I hit a nerve, my dear?" he questioned gleefully. "Or perhaps, some senses are actually heightened. Or feelings, more like."

Ana spun on her heel, nearly running out of the room. "You cannot run from love, Adramela, however unrequited it might be," he called after her, laughing.

Tony Stark was attempting to find the kitchen when Ana rushed past him.

"Hey," he greeted. "By the way, I just wanted to let you know-"

But she had already passed him, barely sparing an unnerved glance.

"-That I forgive you?" Tony finished, watching her in confusion as she moved down the hall. "Okay?" He looked around for a hint of what had caused the ex-assassin to seem so upset when his eyes landed on the door she had come out of. The door that led to the containment chamber that held everyone's favorite God of Lies. "Oh hell no."

He rushed into the room, only to be face to face with a pleased looking Loki. "What did you say to her?" He accused.

Loki tilted his head. "I am afraid I haven't the slightest idea of which you speak."

"Like hell you don't, Reindeer Games," Tony spat. "Look I don't know what connection you have with Ana, but I will not let you-"

"Would you like to know?" Loki interrupted, a look in his eye that Tony could not decipher.

"Would I like to know what?" Tony didn't understand.

"Why Ana and I know each other," Loki clarified smoothly. "Who she is."

Tony forced a laugh. "What, you're just going to tell me?" Tony asked disbelievingly. Trying not to show his nervousness – though he was sure Loki was picking up on it – he began to pace. "And besides, I already know what she is: she's an elf." He gave a shuddering sigh. "And I'm getting past that. I am. Though, do you know why she doesn't have pointy ears? That was sort of irritating me."

"What else did she tell you?" Loki questioned. "About being an elf, I mean."

"Why would I tell you?" Tony retorted.

"Humor me?" Loki pleaded. "I am incarcerated here, after all."

Tony crossed his arms. "Fine. She told me there was nothing else to worry about. There, now I'm leaving." He turned to go, when the annoying sound of Loki's laugh hit him. Against his better judgment, he turned around. "What?" he exclaimed.

"I'd say you have quite a few things to worry about, Stark."

As Loki spun his tale, Tony felt anger bubble up inside him. Soon, his vision was red.

Loki sat silently after he finished. He watched Stark stalk out of the room, fists clenched tightly. He wondered if this stunt would make Adramela hate him.

Probably.

AAA

_Okay, so both Fury and Stark are about to blow up on Ana, and it won't be pretty. At all._

_And Steve and Ana are about to do something that Steve has wanted to do all his life, but never got the chance… Any guesses?_

_Review, review, review!_

_-lala_


	10. First Times

_**Author's Note: **__Hey guys, next chapter! So, the song quoted later on is called 'Vincent', and it's by Don McLean. It's heartbreakingly beautiful, and you guys should check it out!_

_**Warning: **__So, I feel obligated to say there is some pretty heavy swearing early on in this chapter, so if that offends you terribly, I would not read. Or if you're under 13, or whatever age you start learning to swear… so yeah. _

_Enjoy otherwise!_

**Born To Die**

**First Times**

Ana had always been taught by the Russians to observe a room before even thinking of speaking. One can learn a lot from the expressions, and the way people are standing and sitting.

So her eyes immediately moved over Fury, who was staring at her with a –well- furious, but at the same time curious expression, but seemed keen on her speaking before he said a single word.

Steve was looking out over the computers, shoulders hunched. Ana felt a sudden stab of guilt: she had never wanted to hurt Steve. She knew he would eventually forgive her, but it would be a process. Thor was closest to the door, an obviously contrite look on his face. He reached out to her, but she shook her head. _This wasn't a good time, _her eyes told him, and for once, he got the message.

Bruce wasn't there, and Ana hoped feverently he was unaware of what was going on, and maybe she could delicately explain it to him later. Natasha slid into the room, a slightly nervous tremor to her hands, which of course meant everything was going to hell.

Ana opened her mouth to speak, but never got the chance.

"I can't believe, I cannot _fucking _believe that I had to find out about all your shit, Ana, from the whole damn reason we're all here in the first place!"

Tony didn't even yell. He barely even raised his voice. Yet, Ana flinched. Tony Stark knew what he was doing, and she knew he was going to make her _hurt _before they all left the room. And she knew no one would defend her.

"So what? You were just planning on fighting with us, being part of this little super secret boy band, until one day we all died and you kept living? Or did you ever plan on telling us all that you're immortal?"

Ana, taking the first chance she took, cut in. "Tony," she pleaded, "this is what he wants, he wants us all to fight-"

"_Us all?"_ Tony interrupted. "No, this is between you and me, sweetie. You, me, and your LOCD."

She rolled her eyes. "What, and your egomania doesn't cause any problems? All of us have issues, Stark."

"Yeah, but I think being a _lying bitch _tops the rest of them. An elven princess that has superpowers, did you know that, Captain?" Steve turned to watch with swollen eyes, Ana's mouth dropped open, and Tony lunged forward, grabbing her wrist. "Why don't you show us, huh?" He began to squeeze her wrist, tighter and tighter, before her self-preservation instincts kicked up and the fire that always burned restlessly under her skin scorched to the surface and seared the billionaire's hand. With a gasp, he pulled away, staring at her in astonishment. It was as if he couldn't believe she actually hurt him.

She desperately grabbed his arm. "Tony, I'm sorry. Do you think I asked for this?"

Tony looked at her incredulously. "Does anyone actually get a say in who they are?" He pulled his arm away. "Anastasia – if that even is your name – do you think I wanted to be the man who indirectly killed millions of people? But at least I owned up to it. I don't think I know who you are anymore, and you know what the funny thing is? I don't think you even know who you are."

Ignoring her pleas for him to '_just listen', _Tony stormed out, followed quickly by Steve and Thor. Natasha only stopped to inform Director Fury that she'd tell Doctor Banner before Stark got to him.

Natasha stopped briefly in front of her, and stared for a minute. Then she gave her a soft hand squeeze before running out. Ana made to follow when Fury called her back.

He seemed slightly uncomfortable. "Miss Woods… protocol demands that we ask you a few questions, make sure you're not a threat to SHIELD, and assess your power."

Ana nearly choked in surprise, before schooling her features and looking at Fury coldly. "I can assure you, Director, I'm no threat. You can ask Natasha if you wish to know anything about my powers, or re-hack into your video surveillance. I used training room B earlier."

Then she was gone.

AAA

Following the soft strains of music, Ana hesitantly walked into the large gym. It was empty, except for an old version of a radio and a quiet Captain America.

He didn't notice her until she finally spoke: "Funny. I never pictured you much as an Elton John fan."

She was impressed by his restraint; he didn't even flinch at the sound of her voice. "Is that who this is?" Ana frowned. His voice was too high, too fake. This wasn't her Steve.

She silently wandered to his side, but she didn't feel like it was her place to sit next to him. "Yeah."

Steve wasn't exactly sure what she was doing here. Did she want him to forgive her? Because he had already done that, but he didn't really want her to know that. At least, he didn't want her to know that _yet._

She was also lost in her own thoughts. She should've known they wouldn't accept her if they knew all of it. They had taken the fact she was an elf rather well, but that she was an immortal Alfheim princess with a certain penchant for setting things on fire? She didn't think so.

Natasha had comforted Ana in her own way as she left the briefing room after Tony had stormed out, so she knew the SHIELD agent had no issue with her, though she didn't really seem happy.

Thor already had known everything, but even he looked solemn. She could hear Loki laughing over the monitor. 'Not as perfect as you thought she was,' he jeered in her head. Steve had left silently, not even glancing at her. That had hurt.

Ana's breath caught. "Are you…" she began fearfully.

"Am I angry?" Steve finished for her. "Shocked and slightly hurt, but no, I'm not angry."

The brunette sighed in relief. "Thank you… Steve, you know you were my first friend in this realm. I'm not going to forget that."

Steve took her hand, pulling her down next to him. She should've known that he could never be mad at her; he was practically in love with her. Ana looked at him, an uncharacteristically pleading look in her eye. "Can I ask you something, Steve?"

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Shoot," he consented, bracing himself.

But the question she asked was something he didn't expect. It was one that no one in this time had asked him yet, not even the psychiatrists that SHIELD had given him. In retrospect, that was rather surprising.

"What was she like?" Anastasia paused, then clarified. "The woman you were in love with?"

Steve turned to look at her. How did she know about that? No one knew about Peggy, she had faded into the woodwork. And although he hated to think about it, she had probably passed away anyways.

He took a moment to think, barely noticing the radio had abandoned Elton John and moved onto Don McLean, whoever that was. How could he possibly describe Peggy? She had been his perfect match: strong-willed, and willing to look beyond the scraggily kid from Brooklyn and see the man, see _Captain America. _

"She was- she was amazing. Perfect. We were perfect for each other, and she never saw me as some deity." He paused. "We never had that dance," he blurted out, suddenly becoming aware of the fact that tears were leaking from his eyes.

Ana smiled sadly, knowingly, and wrapped her arms around him as his body shuddered with sobs. She thought of Alexander, of Gwindor -her elven fiancé- of her vow to never let another man into her life.

"What about now?" She questioned suddenly, standing.

Steve looked up at her, tears still falling down his cheeks. "What?" He choked out.

"Steve Rodgers, Mr. America, May I have this dance?" She asked, smiling softly. She held out her hand, fingerless gloves and all.

The super solider sort of wanted to laugh. Here they were, on a _helicarrier _of all things. She was wearing a bodysuit, knives and guns hanging from her waist. He was wearing a spandex stars and stripes costume, face drenched in tears. And she just asked him to _dance._ There was really only one thing he could say:

"Okay."

She helped him up, and he put his hands on her waist. Her hands gripped his shoulders: "It's been a while," she admitted. As they twirled around madly, not at all to the slow pace of the song, Steve began to smile. Soon they were laughing, hugging tightly, barely stepping enough to warrant dancing.

Eventually they slowed, Ana's head buried in Steve's neck while he stroked her hair with one hand. He kept the other on her waist, leading her in a slow waltz. A minute later, they pulled apart.

"You should find Tony," Steve whispered. He didn't really want her to go.

The brunette sighed. "I know. He just isn't going to forgive me as easily, will he?"

Steve smiled, but shook his head. "There's no way," he admitted.

Ana moved toward the door, listening to the broken radio, stopping when Steve spoke one more time. "Ana?" She cocked her head. "Don McLean was right about one thing."

"And what's that?"

Steve took a deep breath, looking at her intently. "Ana, this world… this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you."

Her breath caught in her throat, and she could only nod to him before she was running down the hall, running from the perfect man. The man… the man she couldn't make herself love.

_Starry, starry night_

_Portraits hung in empty halls_

_Frameless heads on nameless walls_

_With eyes that watch the world and can't forget_

_Like the strangers that you've met._

_The ragged men in ragged clothes_

_A silver thorn, a bloody rose_

_Lay crushed and broken on the virgin stone-_

_But I could've told you, Vincent, this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you._

AAA

Tony Stark stubbornly stared at his hand. He knew burns were probably something to worry about –he had gotten some bad ones as a child- but he refused to lower himself to asking for help at SHIELD's hospital wing.

He couldn't believe Ana had actually burned him, actually hurt him. He knew he was hurting _her, _squeezing her like that, but he thought she had better control than that. Guess she didn't practice much…

"Tony? Can I come in?"

He almost jumped in surprise, turning to see a repetinent Ana standing in the doorway. He noticed she had changed from the black bodysuit to a pair of dark skinny jeans and a yellow tank top. So focused on this small detail, he forgot to hide his injury.

Ana's expression changed from almost shy to abjectly horrified. "Oh my God, Tony! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean… I can- let me," she stuttered, taking his hand gently in hers.

Tony would've protested, but her hands felt so good on his. His eyes drifted closed; it was almost a cooling effect. He sighed in relief as the sensation seemed to spread through his hands, and when he looked down, the burn was gone.

He looked up at Ana in surprise, but she just shrugged. "I have to power to heal whatever damage I inflict," she informed him, her calm voice nothing like the frantic mumble it was moments earlier. "I apologize for not doing it before."

"If you had come by before now," he told her honestly, "I probably would've slammed the door in your face."

She sighed. "Thanks for being honest."

"I was harsh, Ana," he said matter-of-factly.

"I deserved it," she retorted.

"I took it too far."

"But you were right, Tony, I'm a liar."

"You're a person with a past. You should've shared it, but you're only human."

"But I'm not."

"Ana, it's a figure of speech."

She chuckled lightly. "Are we really having this conversation?"

Tony studied her for a moment, and decided maybe he could forgive. But not yet. "Yeah, we are," he affirmed. "So, what's with the outfit? I thought Fury demanded we be ready to go, every second of every hour."

Ana frowned. "Fury doesn't dictate my life, Tony. And technically, with my powers, I can be ready to go just as quickly as you. But I needed a change. And plus" –she blushed- "I brought _Beverly Hills Cop._"

He looked at her for a moment. "I'm not sure," he began, and she immediately cut him off.

"If you can forgive me? Tony, I get it. I know it's never going to be the same, and trusting might take time. But can we please just hang out on the couch and forget the world for two hours? I know Doctor Banner and you already finished the machine that will locate the Tesseract." She took a deep breath. "After all, who knows what's going to happen in the next day or two?"

He tilted his head, silently staring at her for a few minutes. Then he slowly shook his head. "I… I can't. Sorry."

Refusing to look at Ana again, he sped past her to the door. Ana watched him leave until he disappeared from sight.

There was a horribly aching feeling in her chest, and she couldn't breathe. She gasped, but no oxygen entered her lungs. He had seemed like he was forgiving her, but… she guessed not.

Anastasia wasn't positive, but she was pretty sure she was feeling her heart shatter.


	11. Put on the Suit

_**Author's Note: **__Update, as requested! I hope this means I get more reviews… *insert wink and nudge*_

_So, a ton of dialogue in this chapter, so I apologize. This is the big argument scene, and surprisingly I actually remembered a lot of the dialogue. Huh. That would've been useful a few chapters ago._

_So… shit's about to go down. That is all I really can say._

**Born To Die**

**Put on the Suit**

Natasha Romanoff, spy and assassin, grinned smugly. Astonishingly simple victory.

"So… Banner? That's your play."

Loki stared at a completely calm Natasha in surprise, before uttering the only word he could think of at the moment: "What?"

He had thought he had the advantage, but he suddenly had to admit there was at least one person on this ship better with words than he was. Better than _him, _Loki the Silver-Tongued.

He looked to the SHIELD agent for a reply, but Natasha wasn't paying attention to him. Instead she was speaking to Fury. "Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor as well." She turned back to Loki, and he noticed she had a slight smile on her face. "Thank you for your cooperation."

Loki stared after her, shaking his head before smiling. They had no idea of what was about to come.

AAA

"What is Phase Two?"

At hearing Tony's accusative voice, Natasha froze outside the lab before tearing inside. Unfortunately, Rodgers was right behind her.

"Phase Two is SHIELD using the Tesseract to make weapons," he explained shortly, tossing a futuristic gun onto the table. "Sorry," he told Tony, "the computer was moving a little slow for me."

Ana ran in, Thor in tow. "What's going on?" She breathed. "I got your call, Steve."

No one answered her. "How can we trust SHIELD if you're keeping tabs on all of us, and building weapons," Tony questioned, staring at Fury.

"This is just like Hydra," Steve added. "Except you all are acting like the good guys?"

Natasha snorted, her eyes on Tony. "You're one to talk. Stark, if you were still in the weapons business, you'd be all over this." She kept speaking before he could reply. "And are you all really that naïve? Of course SHIELD monitors all potential threats. Captain Rodgers and Hydra is why this happened in the first place!"

Ana stepped in, looking at Natasha as if she didn't even know her. Which, in reality, she didn't. "Wait, you're blaming Steve for this now?"

Nodding in agreement with Ana's disbelief, Bruce decided to speak up: "So… Captain America is on the potential threat watch list?" He shook his head.

Seeing the opportunity for a quip, Stark laughed, turning to Steve. "I can't believe you're on that list. So are you above or below angry bees?"

Steve made a move toward him, but Ana held him back. "I swear to God, Stark, one more crack…"

"Threatening! I feel threatened!"

Ana rolled her eyes. "Stop acting like a child, Tony," she reprimanded.

"I don't believe I gave you permission to call me Tony," he crossed his arms tightly in front of his chest

"Shut the hell up, Stark. Don't you think she's gone through enough?" Steve shot at him, moving in front of Ana.

The brunette almost growled. "I can take care of myself, Captain…"

Steve ignored her, turning back to Fury. "And you! I thought you brought us together to save the world, not to bring you a weapon maker!"

Fury looked disgruntled, and Ana could tell he was about to attempt to defend himself. "Phase Two isn't even about you," he snapped. "It's about him."

He pointed to Thor, and everyone stopped arguing and stared at him in surprise. Thor, the one person out of all of them who seemed by far the most innocent. Fury sighed.

"Me?" Thor stuttered in disbelief.

Fury sighed in exasperation. "When the arrival of a visitor from another world had a grudge match that leveled a small town, it confirmed that we are not alone in this universe. People got worried."

"Our race means no harm," Thor assured him, almost offended.

"No one in the nine worlds cares about Midgard, Director," Ana said, putting her hands on her hips. "Most of us want peace, and will aid Earth in any war, not fight against it."

"You don't understand. You all aren't the only races out there!"

Thor's eyes hardened. "On the contrary, your work with the Tesseract is only a sign that the Earth is prepared for a higher form of war."

"We only want to be ready, to have some control in the results," Fury defended.

"You speak of control, yet you court chaos," Thor threw back.

Before Fury could reply, Bruce laughed. All heads turned to the supposedly shy curly haired scientist. "It's his M.O., isn't it? I mean, what are we, a team?" He asked. No one answered, waiting for him to continue. "No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that _makes_ chaos. We're... we're a time-bomb."

Fury surreptitiously placed a hand on his gun. "You need to step away," he warned.

"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Tony quipped, smiling though it didn't quite reach his eyes.

Steve stepped forward. "You know damn well why," he hissed lowly. "Back off."

Tony glared at him. "I'm starting to want you to make me," he shot back.

Ana stepped between them, laying a hand on each chest. "Boys…"

Fury noticed a slight tremor in Bruce's hand. He took another step toward the doctor. "Agent Romanoff, why don't you escort Doctor Banner back to his-"

"Back where?" The scientist interrupted. "You rented my room."

"The cell was built…" Fury began.

Only Bruce cut him off again. "In case you needed to kill me," he finished, "but you can't! I know! I tried!" All fighting stopped. Ana was frozen behind an equally frozen Captain America and Ironman. Natasha shifted uncomfortably, and Thor sat back against the counter in surprise. "I got low," he explained, eyes facing the floor. "I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth... and the other guy spit it out! So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good, until _you_" –he glared at Natasha, who looked away- "dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!"

He walked toward the Black Widow, who backed away slowly. "You want to know my _secret_, Agent Romanoff? You want to know how I stay calm?"

Everyone with a weapon reached for one, and Tony and Steve bumped into each other as they both unconsciously moved to block the brunette between them. Ana would've smirked in any other situation, but all she could do was tighten her grip on her knife.

"Doctor Banner," the ex-princess said softly, and Bruce's green-tinted eyes met hers. "Put down the scepter."

Bruce looked down, shocked to see the object in his grasp. The computer beeped, interrupting the silence. "Got it," Tony said quietly, motioning toward the screen.

Banner gently put down the scepter and headed to the computer. "Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my little party trick after all."

As every else followed Bruce to the computer, curious of the Tesseract's location, Steve turned to Tony. "You just don't know when to quit, do you?" He accused. Tony shrugged, almost wanting to laugh at the Captain's bravado. "Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?"

Tony smirked. "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Thor chuckled softly from the computer, and the tension within the others eased with Tony's jokes, though they would never admit it. Steve, however, only grew angrier.

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you," Steve retorted, and Tony tried not to flinch. "I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."

"I think I would just cut the wire."

Steve laughed spitefully. "Always a way out... You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

"A hero?" Tony asked with incredulity. "Like you? You're a lab rat, Rodgers." He paused, before giving the Captain a taunting smile. "Everything that you are came out of a bottle."

Steve had, by now, had enough. "Put on the suit, then. Let's have it out."

Tony grinned. "Normally you wouldn't be this nasty, Captain. I wonder if a certain brunette has anything to do-"

"Put on the suit!"

Ana wasn't listening to the men fighting; instead, she was staring intently at one of the many computer screens. "Guys, what does this mean?" She asked. "It looks sort of ominous," she pointed out, gesturing to a blinking red dot.

Tony reluctantly came up behind her. "I'm sure you're overreact- shit," he realized, before swiftly pushing Ana to the floor before she could protest.

_Boom._

Everyone went flying; Tony had thrown himself onto Ana before the blast, and she was breathing hard. Against her will, she liked the feeling of Tony's warm body on top of hers, and by the way Tony's arms wrapped around her waist as they shakily stood, he liked it too. "I thought you hated me," she breathed, laughing lightly.

"I'm glad you're safe," he murmured instead of replying. He squeezed her before letting her go. They noticed they were up first, the others slightly worse off. They had not been aware of the explosion before it happened.

The brunette nodded, then after hearing Natasha frantically attempting to soothe a trembling Bruce through the broken window below, it turned into a shake of head. "Not for long," she whispered, before tearing away to run toward the window.

Tony attempted to grab her wrist, but she had already leaped through the window. He cursed under his breath, before he felt his arm being grabbed. He looked back, seeing a slightly out-of-sorts Steve Rodgers, who was already in the process of tugging him toward the door.

"Put on the suit," he repeated, but now there was a desperate undertone to his voice.

"Yeah," the billionaire agreed, and they ran out together.

AAA

Ana landed in front of Natasha, who was literally shaking in fear. "Go," she demanded firmly, lifting the pipe from Natasha's leg. She checked Bruce's progress; his clothes were ripping. "Nat, run. As fast as you can. Compose yourself, find Clint. RUN!"

Natasha scampered to her feet, jumping and clearing the green man and tearing out of there. Ana took a deep breath, bracing herself. The Hulk turned to her, and roared so loud that Ana was sure she lost some of her hearing.

"Right," she whispered to herself. "Time to run."

She took off through the pipework, trying to keep a cool head. She could hear the Hulk's labored breathing behind her, using that as a compass of where _not _to go. She got a few fiery swipes in, but all in all she knew nothing she did would hurt the green giant. She just needed to get him off the helicarrier.

She kept away from him as best she could, but eventually she was cornered. She breathed deeply, pressing herself against the wall before slowly sinking down into a defensive position. She grimaced as she looked down at her seared tank top, torn beyond repair.

The Hulk charged, but was waylaid by a flying Thor.

"Thanks, bro," she whispered, before running down the hall toward the broken engine. Maybe Steve and Tony could use some there.

As she ran, she tore her tank around the midriff. So now she was left with holey jeans, and a bra she was glad she was wearing, because her new half-top barely covered a thing. And she really didn't want to change into her crazy, itchy armor.

"Steve," she began loudly, pressing her earpiece. "Come in. What do you need me to do?"

"Ana!" the blonde man shouted in reply. "Get the lever, the red lever! Tony is going to be stuck, and I'm trying to shoot these guys… they just keep coming."

The brunette replied in the affirmative, swinging herself up to reach the ladder. She tried not to be seen, but one gunman noticed, and Steve was too preoccupied with shooting what he believed to be the last man.

Ana had just pulled the lever, saving Tony, when she felt the unfortunately familiar pain shoot through her stomach. She gasped at the throbbing agony, yet still the smiling gunman had an answering knife in his heart before he could even blink.

She looked down at her bare –and now bloody- stomach, before meeting Steve's horrified eyes. Hers were full of pain, but she still opened her mouth to speak.

And then, even as Captain America desperately lunged for her, she toppled off the side of the aircraft.

Steve felt himself tearing up in desperation and despair, but forced them back. He couldn't cry now.

"We did it, Rodgers." Ironman landed next to him. "Coulson is… he's down. Thor and Bruce are gone, but they'll be fine. I think" –he finally looked at Steve, immediately forgetting what he was going to say- "What's wrong?"

Steve looked up at him, and Tony felt the worried ache in his chest grow wider. He didn't want to – he _couldn't _think… "Steve," he added, using the soldier's first name for the first time, "don't sugarcoat it. I need to know."

Captain America shook his head, still staring into the clouds before. "It's Ana," he said hoarsely. "She's gone. Bullet… through her stomach. Fell off… no chance."

Tony wanted to kick something. Hard. And yell. Scream, even. But all he could do was stand there, staring at the same empty space that Steve was.

"Who shot her?" he breathed. "Who, Steve?"

"Not worth it, Tony," his teammate replied. They were teammates, now, after all this.

"Steve," he pleaded.

"The one with the knife," Steve conceded softly, not turning.

Tony ripped his gaze from the hollow, empty air, looking with hateful eyes upon the obviously dead man. He opened fire.

He couldn't stop, even when Jarvis gently warned him about the power level. His gaze was as cold as ice. There was an aching emptiness in his chest.

Steve didn't flinch, didn't even move, until he heard Ironman collapse behind him. Only then did he kneel beside the broken billionaire, ignoring the unrecognizably charred body in front of them, wrapping his arms around the –technically- older man. There they sat, the proud man and the humble man, the sexy and the sweet, but all in all, they weren't that different. Not at all.

"Why didn't I forgive her?" Tony asked morosely.

"Tony-"

"You forgave her," the billionaire stated emotionlessly.

"I did."

"You deserved her."

"But she loved you," Steve admitted truthfully.

There was a hollow pause before Tony replied, his voice breaking.

"I think I might've loved her too."

AAA

_I should've worn the armor, _Anastasia thought dimly as she fell, before she blacked out. The last thing she registered were strong arms wrapping protectively around her waist.

AAA

_I have an odd obsession with italicizing random words when Bruce is speaking. No one else, I guess._

_Any guesses as to who saved Ana? I dare you guys to figure it out._


	12. Elves and Monsters

_**Author's Note: **__Okay, so good guesses you guys. You'll find out soon, but not in this chapter._

_Okay, I have three shout-outs. Really quickly, I promise._

_To little-miss-randomness17, who individually reviewed all my chapters a few days ago. This chapter is dedicated to you, sweetheart!_

_To all the rest of the reviews, favorites, and alerts I've gotten. You guys are so awesome and totally make my day when you do those things, especially the first._

_Do any of you like Sherlock Holmes? (RDJ, guys, come on!) Anyway, I read possibly the best story I've ever had the pleasure of reading yesterday; it was called Impossible Things (it's in my favorites) if you guys want to check it out! So, just a shout-out to the author, because I am a very bad writer, but reading things like that help inspire me to work harder to become better. So thank you, whoever you are!_

_Um… On with it?_

**Born To Die**

**Elves and Monsters**

_I wasn't really sure how I had ended up on the ground, still alive, but I knew I was going to die soon no matter what miracle had befallen me. Even though I healed faster than a normal human, no gunshot wound –for a mortal or immortal- should go untreated for this long. _

_I heard the blare of an ambulance siren and felt the urge to run. I suppose I'd never been on this side of the situation before. _

_I attempted to sit up, but a gentle hand pushed me back down on the pavement. "Don't move, chick-a-dee. Ambulance is coming, and they'll fix you right up. Don't know how you got here… but you're going to be okay, got that?"_

_I moaned in suffering, wishing I could punch the owner of the voice for calling me 'chick-a-dee', but I figured it would be better not to lose anymore blood. Suddenly, hands were lifting me into the back of the ambulance and I knew no more._

AAA

Bruce came to with a pained groan, blinking groggily up at the ceiling of a room he had never seen before.

The last thing he could remember was hulking out as Anastasia ushered Natasha out of the small crevice they had fallen into after the explosion. And as much as he was angry with Natasha, he sincerely hoped it was Ana he went after. She had definitely had a better chance of surviving.

He took in his surroundings: he guessed he was in an indoor junkyard of some sort. Light filtered hazily through dirty and broken glass. And lastly, of course, he was naked.

He noticed a elder man staring down at him. "Did I hurt anybody?" he forced out immediately; he had to know.

The man shrugged, and Bruce could tell from his clothes that he was some sort of security guard. He seemed nice, though. "No one around here to _get _hurt," he replied, and Bruce sighed in relief. "You did scare the hell out of some pigeons, though," he added jokingly, and the doctor wondered how the man could be so incredibly calm after seeing him at his worst.

"Lucky," Bruce whispered, reassured.

"Or just good aim," the security guard offered. "You were awake when you fell."

"You saw," Bruce accepted morosely, waiting for the guard's horrified reaction.

But he didn't seem to be fazed at all. "Whole thing," he agreed. "Fell through the ceiling… naked and green and buck-ass nude," he repeated, grinning. He picked up some clothes that he had obviously gathered beforehand. "Here, didn't think those would've fit you before you shrunk down to a regular-sized fellow."

Bruce quickly pulled on the pants, relieved that he finally had some sort of dignity back. "Thanks," he replied, and he really meant it.

"Are you an alien?"

The scientist froze. "What?" he managed.

"An alien. You know, from outer space," the man explained, rolling his eyes.

"No." Bruce sort of wanted to laugh, and he would've. But he couldn't, the circumstances being what they were.

"Well then son, you've got a condition."

Bruce gave the elder man a tight smile. "Well, I better go."

The security guard nodded, then suddenly seemed to remember something. "Hey! You know a girl?"

Bruce jumped. What if… "What did she look like?" He asked hurriedly, looking around.

"Long curly brown hair," the man described. "Quite the pretty one, too. Got shot in her stomach, I think, though," he frowned. "I called an ambulance. They took her to a hospital. Do you know her?"

"Ana," he breathed to himself. "God, Tony's going to kill me." He swiftly turned back to the man. "Do you have anything to ride?"

"You know her?" The man repeated dubiously.

"Uh, yeah," Bruce replied, praying the man would buy it. "She's my best friend's girlfriend," he added. The best way to lie was to tell a partial truth, right? "We're all very close."

The man sighed. "You can have my bike, boy. But I swear, if I see you on the news trying to take over the world, I'm coming after you, son."

"Will do," Bruce tried and failed again to smile. He grabbed the keys from the man, and was gone before he could say another word.

The hospital was only twenty minutes away when staying within the speed limit, and so he arrived in ten, breaking all traffic laws he knew of and probably making up some violations as he went. He knew there was no way the hospital would let him in if he claimed Ana was just a friend, so he created a quick tall-tale. His name was Bruce Banner, and Ana would be Annabel Banner, his sister. He remembered that Ana used to be a well-known assassin, and might be in danger if he used her real name. He was rather proud of himself for that.

The sputtering bike gave out moments before he entered the hospital parking lot, and he quickly ran through it and up to the entrance. He knew the motorcycle was completely useless now, and he sort of felt bad for the security guard. He walked in, suddenly realizing that though he was a doctor, this was the first time he had set foot in a sterile hospital in at least ten years.

Shaking the thought away, he ran toward the front desk, trying to be the best distraught brother he could possibly be…

…and it worked out much better than he had expected. The nurse ushered him up to the ER, and the single doctor on duty was extremely glad that Bruce did not have to be consoled every step of the way.

"Miss Banner was shot in the stomach, probably by a trained shooter because of the nature of the shot," the doctor explained. "We were able to remove the bullet, and she is healing remarkably." Bruce chuckled lowly, and the doctor gave him a funny look.

He quickly realized his mistake of laughing. "Sorry," he apologized. "It's just that, uh, that sounds like her. Never letting anything get her down… my sister." He sighed, thinking he ruined it.

However, the doctor didn't seem to notice it. "Would you like to launch an investigation on the shooter?" He questioned.

"No!" He shouted, and the blonde man looked up in surprise at what he had thought was a calm man. Then he coughed. "I mean, you know… we're just going to want to forget about, I'm sure."

Suddenly, there was a weak call from within the room: "Bruce? Bro, is that you?"

"Yeah, Annabel," he remembered to add. "Coming, sis!" He ran into the room, but turned back when the doctor made to follow him. "Uh, can we have a moment alone?" Bruce pleaded. "I promise I'll call if I need help."

The doctor hesitated, but reluctantly nodded. "Sure. I suppose you _are _a doctor… and I haven't had my lunch break."

Bruce didn't even have to urge him on; by the time the scientist opened his mouth, the man was gone. Bruce let out a wry smile, before entering the hospital room. It was conspisciously bare, except for it's patient and an unmarked package on the nearby wooden chair.

To his astonishment, Ana was already sitting up on the side of the bed. Bruce blushed when he noticed she had pulled the sheet up to cover her chest… was she naked?

"Yes," she responded impatiently to his unasked question. "Now, grab that package on the chair over there and bring it to me."

Bruce did so, his face turning a little more red when she motioned with her finger for him to turn around and give her some privacy. He heard the rustle of cloth falling to the floor, and a few pained groans made him remember why they were in the hospital in the first place.

"How is the wound?" He questioned blindly. "Did you really…"

"Heal so quickly?" She finished, and finally, after the sound of a slight struggle, she answered. "Yes. Now, could you zip this up?"

Bruce spun on his heel, mouth dropping open when he caught sight of her.

Ana was dressed in some sort of skintight, black spandex pants with knee-high combat boots. There was a loose belt hanging from her waist with all sorts of guns and knives tucked into various parts. All in all, she looked like Natasha from the waist down. He stepped forward and grabbed the two ends of the shirt in his hand, bringing the silver, orange, and black material together. The shirt exposed the lower half of her stomach, which Bruce thought was clever as to not irritate her wound. The orange portion was made to look like there were flames licking around her body and down her arms, ending in fingerless gloves.

"Nice suit," he complimented evenly, eyeing her up and down. "Who?..."

"A man who used to train me," she replied. "Came in when he thought I was sleeping."

"Is the material inflammable?" Bruce asked.

"I have a good feeling about it," she smiled, wiggling her fingers. "After all, if he didn't know about the fire, why the flames?" Bruce shrugged, indicating he had no idea. "By the way," Ana added, "did you catch me? I wouldn't have survived that fall under normal circumstances, and I could've sworn I felt someone's arms…"

Bruce shook his head. "You ended up in a completely different area than I did," he answered, and Ana crinkled her brow. They stood in silence for a minute. "We're going to Manhattan, by the way," he informed her. "I've deduced Stark Tower is the only place from which the portal can be opened, judging by the amount of self-sustaining energy needed." He paused. "The final fight… it will be there."

Ana peered up at him, suddenly shy. "Will you fight?" She asked hesitantly.

Bruce seemed to consider this. "If they need a monster," he joked, but she could tell he believed what he was saying. She opened to mouth to argue.

Suddenly, the sound of crisp footsteps echoed from the hall. Both the Avengers froze, but a split second later, Ana's gloved hand was on Bruce's arm, yanking him to the window and gestured toward it. "Jump," she ordered, giving the door a worried glance.

Bruce blinked, mouth dropping. "What? Are you crazy? I'll die!"

"Magic, remember? I'll cushion it," she told him, but already the door was opening. "Actually," she changed her mind, "scratch that plan."

Instead, she simply pulled him out the window with her.

Ignoring the shouts of the blonde doctor, Bruce quickly pulled Ana to her feet and they began to run, just as lightning crashed in the distance. "Are you serious? Rain?" Ana sighed, annoyed as Bruce stopped running for a minute to examine her bandages. "I'm fine!" She told him, exasperated. "We need to get to Manhattan."

Bruce looked around. "Where are we?" He wondered, eyes suddenly catching a poster above them. "Edison. That's in New Jersey." he added, answering his own question.

Ana's eyes lit up. "We're not far from New York City, and I can easily find Manhattan from there."

Bruce tilted his head in curiosity, though he kept his hand on the small of her back in keep her moving. "You've been here?"

"Yeah," she nodded, but her eyes had a sad glint. "Steve and I came here… He wanted to show me the beach."

Bruce made a noise of assent, showing he heard her, but said no more. "What are you looking for?" He asked a few minutes later, noticing Ana was scanning the beachfront.

Just then, she smiled. "That," she pointed out, then ran toward a sleek black motorcycle. Bruce stopped in surprise, but shook his head and trailed after her, wiping the raindrops off his face as they slowly started coming down.

They found a long trench coat –Bruce had already made the observation that she was beginning to get some looks- and a fedora folded on the bike, the latter of which had a sticky note attached to it.

_Princess-_

_For dramatic effect._

Ana let out a shocked laugh as Bruce swung one leg over the seat. She shrugged on the coat, placing the hat gently over the mess of curls on her head. "Coming?" The scientist asked. "We have about a half-hour drive, and it's going to be in the rain."

She quickly swung onto the vehicle, sliding her arms under Bruce's and curling them up to grasp the front of his shoulders. The man stiffened; he hadn't had human contact in… well, he didn't want to dwell on that.

Just as he was revving up the engine, the storm took a momentous turn. Freezing rain made it hard to see, and thunder boomed closer to them than ever. She held onto him tightly, but simultaneously reached for the cellphone in her pocket.

"What are you doing?" He shouted over the wind, eyes closely focused on the road.

"He left me a cellphone, and I'm going to use it," she yelled back, dialing a well-known number though she could barely see the screen.

"Are you calling Tony?" Bruce questioned urgently. "He'll kill me if he's not the first… God, Ana, he probably thinks you're dead."

Ana smiled tightly, though he couldn't see her. She held the phone to her ear.

"Please pick up…"

AAA

Tony and Steve sat silently and alone at the big meeting table. Natasha and Clint were in the hospital wing, getting the latter fixed up. Coulson was down. Loki had escaped. Thor and Bruce were MIA. Ana was most likely dead.

Things were not looking up. Not in the billionaire's point of view, at least. Fury had just given them a lecture about Phil, one that had Tony's heart aching. He had always taken the agent for granted.

He shot a text off to Pepper, informing her about Ana. He figured she would want to know, yet he hadn't gotten a reply. Maybe they could sort things out after this… if there _was _an 'after this'.

"Come on," he told Steve suddenly. He stood up, while Fury and Agent Hill watched him curiously from the other side of the room. "We're the Avengers, right?" Steve nodded hesitantly, unsure of where the genius was going with this. "Well, let's go fucking _avenge _something."

Even the agent playing Galaga knew who he was talking about.

Steve jumped up, and something in him caught fire. He had a purpose.

Tony began to throw out his thoughts, bouncing them off his teammate. "Okay, Loki's motive: he wants to beat us and he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience."

Steve agreed instantly. "Right. I caught his act in Stuttgart." They both began to pace, leaving the room and walking down the hall, shoulder to shoulder.

"Yeah," Tony nodded. "But that was just a preview, this will be opening night. Loki's a full-tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built in the skies with his name plastered.."

The genius paused in shock, and Steve stopped with him. They realized the same thing at the exact same time, and Tony nearly choked on his next words.

"Son of a bitch!"

Steve immediately went into full "Captain America" mode. "Suit up. I'll get Barton and Romanoff."

Tony ran a shaking hand through his hair. "I've got your back, sweetheart," he whispered to the empty hall, before hurrying toward his suit.

AAA

_Poor Tony! I wonder who Ana's calling? I bet you guys hope it's our favorite genius._

_So, ruled out Bruce. Any other ideas? _

_Review, pretty please!_


	13. Seeing, Believing, and Growing

_**Author's Note:**__ Okay, here we go! This chapter is pretty lame, but it had to happen. I apologize in advance. Clint talks for the first time in this whole story here, which is obviously why. Duh._

_So, sort of cliffhanger here, you guys. I mean, if you want Tony and Ana to have a moment, that is. I know I do!_

_Thanks for the reviews and alerts! You guys definitely keep me motivated!_

**Born to Die**

**Seeing, Believing, and Growing**

Pepper Potts hurriedly rushed onto the Stark Industries private plane, eager to get back to New York. After Tony's text… well, even though she had broken up with him, she wasn't heartless. He was going to need someone to confide in, someone to get him back on his feet.

Maybe she could even see him as a potential boyfriend again.

Suddenly her phone –which very rarely left the safety of her hand- buzzed gently. She looked at it curiously, noting the strangle amount of zeros. Immediately, her thoughts fell to Fury, and she pressed the word 'answer'.

Instantly, her right ear was assaulted by a terribly loud whooshing sound. She moved the earpiece back a little. "Hello?" The PA shouted, ignoring the funny look from the man next to her.

"Pepper? Is that you?" The voice was somewhat familiar, and a few tense seconds later, Pepper mind connected to her ear. Her blue eyes went wide, and she collapsed into the chair that was luckily placed behind her by the helpful flight attendant. She dazedly nodded her thanks.

"Dead… Tony told me you were _dead!"_

AAA

Tony Stark was a man on a mission.

The second his eyes found The God of Mischief, they narrowed angrily, though he tried not to let it show on his cold poker face. He carefully walked around the bar, not allowing himself to meet the God's eyes. Steve had told him what to do, though he knew something deep inside him wanted badly to kill this… this _thing. _And he knew he would. For _her. _

But he desperately hung onto the tiny voice amongst all the louder ones. He held onto the one that said she was still alive, and to not do anything rash. Of course, he _was _Tony Stark, and impetuous was his middle name.

Loki smirked smugly at the obviously broken man in front of him. "Please tell me you've come to appeal to my humanity," he begged jokingly.

Tony's eyes snapped up, ignoring Steve's plea in his ear to stay calm, to offer Loki a chance to surrender. The time for that, he decided, was long gone. "Actually, I've come to threaten you," he corrected matter-of-factly, cold brown eyes meeting their counterpart from across the airy room. "Drink?" He offered arrogantly.

"No, thank you," Loki replied smoothly. "What have I to fear?"

"The Avengers," Tony shot back. "It's what we call ourselves." He took a long drink of the alcohol in his hand, figuring he'd probably need it for this fight. "'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' type thing."

The raven-haired god chuckled. "Yes, I've met them."

Tony gave him the grandest fake smile he could draw up. "Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But let's do a head count here, shall we? Your brother, the demi-god" –Loki's grin flickered into a frown- "a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend." Tony hesitated, wondering if he should make a reference to Ana… _why not? _"An elf who shoots _fire _out of her hands; a man with _breath-taking _anger management issues; a couple of master assassins, and _you_, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

This forensics tournament went on for a while longer, mostly consisting of Tony trying to buy time in order for the rest of his team to arrive.

And then it all went to hell when Loki threw him out his own window. "JARVIS!" He shouted up at the building, praying that the suit would deploy on time.

"Coming, sir," the AI assured him, and the suit suddenly latched onto his bracelets, forming swiftly and efficiently around him. "Cap? Where are you guys?"

It was Natasha who answered him. "We're just now coming into the city, Stark. Thor's on his way."

Tony smirked. "You guys just got here? What did you do, stop for drive-through?" He could practically _hear _the Black Widow's sneer. "Okay, okay. I digress. Just send me word when Banner gets here, and we'll reconvene."

"Banner?" Steve asked him confusedly. "But he's…"

"Never mind," Tony interrupted quickly. There was nothing worse than an unfocused Captain America. "Only, keep that in mind, will you?"

It was Barton who saw the portal open. "Um, guys? What the hell is that?"

The other three glanced up the sky, along with the rest of the island of Manhattan. You could _hear _the jaws dropping.

It was Steve who found his voice first. "Stark, are you seeing any of this?"

Tony was so astonished that he couldn't muster the words to berate Rodgers for being obvious. "Seeing," he began, hanging midair. "Still working on believing."

AAA

Meanwhile, Ana was clinging to Bruce's shoulder with one hand, and trying to reassure a sobbing Pepper with the other. It had stopped raining, but both Avengers were soaked to the core.

"Yeah, Pep, I'm fine," she soothed, talking over the other woman's crying. "I just have to ask you a question."

"Shoot," the other lady replied tiredly. "I've got a whole plane ride."

Ana's eyes widened. "You're not going to Stark Tower, are you?" Pepper replied in the affirmative. "No, you can't! Tony would want you to be safe, and there's a major invasion waiting to happen in Manhattan."

Pepper immediately told the hostess to instead take them to Malibu. "What's going on, Ana?"

"Turn on the news," the other woman offered. "Well, after we're done speaking. But it should be in the process of happening."

"Why aren't you there?"

Ana paused. "Well, Doctor Banner and I… We sort of fell off the helicarrier."

Pepper gasped. "What? Are you okay? No wonder Tony thinks you're dead… Anastasia, you call him right now!"

"Not until you answer my question," Ana commanded.

"What?" Pepper shouted, on the verge of being hysterical.

The brunette took a deep breath. "Why did you break up with Tony?"

There was such a long pause on the other line that Ana was worried Pepper had hung up on her. "Pepper?" She asked blindly.

"I'm sure Tony told you," she began blandly, "but you want to hear it from me. Ana, I loved Tony. He was the center of my world for so long, and it was unhealthy for me as a person. You helped me realize that, you know."

Ana was slightly distressed. "I _told_ him it was my fault! I broke you guys up, I knew it!"

"No, no," Pepper reassured her. "It's just, Tony needs someone who's there for him, and I was. But he also needs someone that has a life outside of taking care of him. You did, and I think he was attracted to that from the beginning."

The brunette squeezed Bruce's arm, indicating for him to take a turn. "Thank you, Pepper."

"You and Tony have my blessing, Ana, if that's what you're looking for. I'll come around to see you guys, I just need a little time."

"Well, if we're still alive," Ana quipped, staring up at the now visible portal, which was teeming with Chitauri. "Have to go, Pepper, I'll call you when it's over." She hung up the phone, tossing it to the side of the street. She had nowhere to put it in her suit, and she couldn't imagine nailing an alien with a cellphone would hurt it. She was getting antsy. Why weren't they there yet? "Bruce?"

The scientist immediately understood, picking up speed. Ana wondered what their reception would be when they found the rest of the team. Hopefully, they could reconcile their differences long enough to work together, and then they could have their reunions and argument when Loki was on trial in Asgard.

Surprisingly, it was Bruce who broke the silence. "So, you don't have pointy ears."

The brunette leaned forward. "Well, doctor, you can't believe everything you read," she teased. "As a sign of royalty on Alfheim, the king cuts off the tips of the ears when a new royal is a child. It is a distinguishing trait from elf to elf, and it helps if a member of the royal family is not widely recognized."

"Ah," the scientist replied, eyes still focused on the road. Ana looked around for any sign of the Avengers, seeing normal people peer at the two through the windows of various buildings they were hiding in.

"You don't care for me much, do you?" She blurted suddenly.

Bruce chose his reply carefully. "I'm not very fond of people who lie to me."

Ana looked down. She knew she was going to be paying for that lie for a long time. In retrospect, she couldn't see why she did it. Had she been afraid? Most likely. She had used to think that she wasn't afraid of anything after the realization, on an empty street in Russia, that her entire family was dead. "So you must not like Nat and me," she stated.

Bruce hummed in response. "Well, I'm beginning to believe that the Avengers are slowly growing on me."

For a minute, Bruce thought the girl behind him would not reply. But then a soft 'thank you' filtered through his hearing. He nodded, when suddenly a flash of red and blue caught his eye. He whipped the bike around, and they awkwardly pulled up. Natasha, Clint, Steve, and Thor eyed them, all in various stages of shock.

Bruce and Ana slid off the motorcycle, and it was the doctor that seemed to find his voice first. "Well, this all seems pretty… terrible." Everyone looked at him, and Thor nodded emphatically. "The other guy might just make things worse."

To his astonishment, it was Natasha who replied. "That's okay. We could use a little worse."

Steve, however, only had eyes for the figure behind the scientist. He stumbled forward, past Bruce, to meet Ana. He tore off her fedora, and American blue eyes met wild green. Ana tried to take a small step back, more than wary of his reaction. However, before she could move, Steve grasped her arm and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. After a moment, Ana relaxed in the safety of his arms, embracing him just as tightly in return. "I'm sorry," she choked.

Steve released her, moving back. "I'll yell at you later," he warned, tucking a strand of chocolate-colored hair behind her ear. "Right now, I'm just so happy you're alive."

Clint moved forward, shaking both of the newcomers' hands. "Agent Barton," he introduced. "I hope you don't hold anything I did under that asshole's control against me." Ana thought he seemed almost sheepish.

She smiled to reassure him. "I've done far worse acts of my own volition, Agent Barton." The man shot a lopsided smile her way, and moved to stand back with Natasha. The two SHIELD agents hung back together, and Ana threw the Black Widow a wink when the archer leaned toward his partner, to which Natasha rolled her eyes.

The Captain pressed a hand to his ear as the redhead tossed a comm unit to the brunette. "Stark? We got Banner, just like you said. And-"

But he was interrupted by the billionaire. "Good. Tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you."

Natasha's eyes widened. "I-I don't see how that's a party."

Steve was just about to add that Ana was here, that she was _alive, _but suddenly his thoughts were dominated by the huge worm-like creature that Tony had just brought around the corner. "W-what?" He stuttered.

"Leviathan," Ana informed him. "Armor is impenetrable. Weaknesses: kinks in sides and stomach, and mouth. They destroy everything in their path."

Deciding to wonder how on earth she knew all of that another time, Steve addressed Bruce without taking his eyes from the monster that loomed above them. "Doctor Banner, I think now might be a good time for you to get angry."

The scientist turned back to him, bemused. "Well, that's my secret, Cap. I'm always angry."

With the rest of the Avengers staring in awe, Bruce Banner morphed into the Hulk, which proceeded to take down the entire Leviathan with a single fist.

Ana just stared. "Or you can do it that way."

Of course, she had forgotten she had on a comm unit, which linked her to every single one of the Avengers, including the one that thought she was dead.

Tony's head snapped forward, and he looked down at the group below him so quickly that he might've gotten whiplash. "Jarvis," he began frantically.

"In the trench coat, sir," the AI supplied helpfully, anticipating his creator's inquiry.

Tony's eyes scanned the ground, seeing the curly mess of hair… _holding the Captain's hand. _

The haze that covered his mind could not really be described as jealousy. No, this was much more powerful, much more heady. His mind had previously had three purposes: kill Loki, save world, and avenge Ana. They had all gone hand in hand. Now a completely different mantra pounded through his head, which was already going mad and delirious.

God, he never wanted to be without her again. He swore to himself, he would keep her by his side, as both Ironman and Tony Stark. She couldn't leave. He wouldn't let her. He understood her, and would never get bored of her. She wasn't like Pepper.

_Grab take hold want save kiss_

This was what was going through his head as Bruce hulked out, these singular thoughts. One after another. His genius brain couldn't _think _for once.

He needed her.

Tony Stark _needed _someone. For the first time in his life.

And he was _not_ going to let her go so easily this time.

AAA

_Someone's possessive…_

_What did you guys think of the phone conversation? I thought it was pretty weak… hope I made up for it at the end!_

_Review, pretty please!_


	14. Better Clench Up

_**Author's Note: **__Okay, so a long-awaited moment in this chapter, but also a reminder that nothing is over til it's over. _

_Sorry about the wait, I've been crazy busy this week!_

_Enjoy, and thanks to everyone that reviewed the last chapter!_

**Born To Die**

**Better Clench Up**

"_Reach deep inside yourself, my dearest."_

_I groaned in frustration, balling my fourteen year-old fists into tight knots. "I am attempting to do so, Mother! It is too difficult. I have no power." I paused, looking up at the elf that raised me with big pleading eyes. "May I join Loki and Thor now?"_

_My mother shook her head. "No, you must do this," she commanded. "Do you not want to be able to use this power when you are older?"_

_I groaned again, collapsing back onto my bed. Why didn't she understand? I would never want to use the all power. There is nothing and no one I could possibly care about enough in the future to help; I wanted to keep all my powers forever! Were they not already forcing me to marry against my will?_

_But I consented, as I usually did. "Very well, Mother. Explain it to me again?"_

_My Mother smiled gently, yet she was obviously still irked with me under what my sisters and I called her 'kind mask'. "An elf comes into a plethora of power when they reach the age of twenty and one. However, when the elf is eventually, in their early lifetime, forced to use the all power, their power drains to leave their one major power. According to the soothsayer, yours will be fire." I nodded to show my understanding. "You must be careful, Adramela. It is possible to use too much power, and you can lose a part of yourself."_

_I sighed impatiently, but gave my mother a tight smile. "I understand, Mother. May I leave?"_

_She rolled her eyes, but agreed. I tore out of there faster than a loosed arrow. My friends were waiting for me, and I did not have to see my husband-to-be for another week._

_I hated lessons then, but oh, how I would long for them in the future._

_AAA_

Ana didn't enjoy not being in control. Not at all.

All she knew was that one moment, she was squeezing a shocked Steve's hand in comfort as the giant worm-like creature swerved toward them, shrugging her coat from her shoulders to reveal the suit beneath. And the next, her feet were no longer touching the pavement as unfamiliar hands swung her into unfamiliar arms, one wrapped tightly around her knees and the other supporting her upper back.

In a split second, her hands were an orange hue. She drove them toward her captor, only to stop short when her fist landed with a clang on a mixture of red and gold.

There was an earsplitting pause, in which Ana forced her gaze upward in order to meet the mechanical one of Ironman.

She couldn't look away, even as the sounds of the Hulk battering the huge alien below them rang out. Everything else in the world seemed so far away. The brunette's fist slowly uncurled, until her palm rested comfortably over the place where Tony Stark's heart was. His arms gradually loosened, and Ana shifted to sit more easily. Their eyes never left one another, except once, when Tony's flickered down to her wound for a few seconds, then back up to her wild green eyes.

The second Tony lifted his face mask off, the moment she could see his achingly familiar face, the built-up silence shattered.

As she gasped words that barely made sense to herself, let alone someone else, Tony's eyes slipped from her eyes to go slightly lower.

"And God, Tony, I'm alive. And you are, and we're together. And I'm so sorry; I did so many things wrong, I don't deserve a single thing you deign to-"

But Tony was done. He was just so _fucking_ done.

So he shut the frantic brunette up in the first –and in hindsight, best- way he could think of.

After the shock of Tony's actions passed, Ana immediately returned the hard, desperate, _beautiful _kiss, wrapping her arms tightly around the broad shoulders of Ironman, opening her eyes to shyly meet the chocolate brown irises of Tony Stark. Which was sort of ironic, considering how his tongue was in her mouth.

A wave of pleasure overtook her, and she could no longer keep her eyes open. They fluttered closed, and Tony pulled her even closer.

"May I love you?" He asked softly between kisses.

The laugh Ana released was unlike any sound Tony had ever heard. Her eyes reopened, and they glittered in happiness. "I thought you'd never ask," she replied hoarsely, reaching forward and kissing him again.

Clint's voice in their ears almost caused Tony to drop Ana. "Yo, Romeo and Juliet? Alien invasion, guys, ring a bell?"

"I suppose," Tony growled, annoyed. He lowered them slowly to the ground. "By the way, darling, love the uniform. My design was better, though."

"But this one's inflammable," she shot back cheekily, using his chest to propel herself out of his arms to land between Natasha and Clint as they all stood back to back.

"You complete me, baby doll!" Tony yelled back cheerfully, before the face plate went back down. Ana just groaned. Tony was already irritating with nicknames; how bad would he be with pet names? Natasha bumped against her, expressing her own elation with an un-Tasha-like move. Ana just grinned at her, before focusing. If she wanted to make out with Tony again –which was a no-brainer- these aliens would have to go.

Steve watched the couple silently. He was upset with all this, of course. After all, he knew he loved Ana, he just accepted he didn't belong with her. She was a bit too far on the wild side for him, and it was so obvious that Tony and Ana were absolutely perfect for each other. In his eyes, Ana would only ever be a best friend. And he thought he could probably live with that.

As Ironman landed staunchly next to him, Steve felt a tremor of importance and power shudder through him. The Avengers were a unit now, and as the Hulk let out a loud gravelly roar; as Ana's whole body became a fiery torch; as Natasha cocked her gun and Clint notched an arrow; as Thor lifted his hammer; and as Tony lifted a glowing blue hand, Steve closed his eyes and realized _this _was where he belonged. The strong and glorious leader among gods, assassins, billionaires, archers, geniuses, and most importantly, heroes.

Stark turned to face him, and for once, Steve felt respect emanate from the man. "Call it, Captain."

The blonde man looked around; all of the Avengers' eyes were on him, waiting for command. He took a deep breath. It was a lot of responsibility, but he had done this before. _He knew how to do this_. "All right, listen up! Until we can close that portal up there, what we need is containment." He turned to the archer. "Barton: I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark: you've got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash."

"Need a lift?" Tony asked Clint, walking determinedly toward the agent. He squeezed Ana's arm lightly as he passed, giving her a warm look – well, Steve supposed it would've been a warm look if the mask hadn't been in the way. Ana seemed to understand. "Careful with that wound," he warned quickly.

"Yeah," Clint replied to Tony's prior question.

The Ironman grasped Clint's arm tightly. "Better clench up, Legolas." They took off, leaving Thor, Ana, Natasha, Steve, and Bruce on the ground.

Steve continued: "Thor: you've got to try and bottleneck that portal, slow them down. You've got the lightning - light the bastards up!" Thor nodded staunchly, swinging his hammer a few times in order to get up into the air.

"Woods: You have to hijack one of these alien flying contraptions. Get up there and nail as many as you can."

Ana tilted her head in acknowledgment, placing her hands almost playfully on her hips. "Can you give me a boost?"

Steve nodded, holding up his shield. The brunette got a running start, did two back handsprings, feet landing on Steve's shield as he thrust it up into the air. She easily swung onto a passing ship, and the three left on the ground saw a flash of orange and yellow before it disappeared around the corner. Steve was rather confident in her abilities, though; he wasn't worried.

"Captain?"

He spun back to Natasha, face adorably red. Maybe he had been watching for too long… "You and me: we stay on the ground, keep the fighting here." Natasha had already pulled out her guns, slowly helping a bus full of children keep cover as she expertly shot the Chitauri as they appeared.

Steve looked up at the green giant next him, at a loss for words. "And Hulk," he began, reaching mentally for a decent job. "Smash," he figured simply. The Hulk grunted in consent, jumping and virtually flying toward a nearby building, smashing aliens happily.

Steve joined Natasha, lifting a child from the window and ushering him toward the building.

He thought to himself, _this just might work._

AAA

Nick Fury sunk into his chair, staring at the screen in front of him in disbelief.

The blonde woman leaned toward him. "Director Fury, the council has made a decision."

Fury snorted; he had an unnaturally strong urge to pull out his gun and shoot the four screens in front of him. He didn't think it was an unfounded urge either. "I recognize that the council has made a decision, but given that it is a stupid-ass decision, I've elected to ignore it."

The council seemed to decide that Fury's authority no longer existed, and immediately sent out the command for a missile. And despite their best efforts, that missile was headed for the island of Manhattan, and there was nothing else SHIELD could do to stop it.

Except to add to the Avengers' already growing burden.

AAA

Ana thought the battle was going pretty well.

Natasha was at the portal, ready to turn off the device as soon as they gave her the signal. The Hulk had tossed Loki around a few times, and the God of Mischief was obviously not going anywhere for a while.

Steve, Thor, and she were working together to kill as many aliens as possible, but their Captain was getting a bit fatigued. Thor was fine, as well as she – immortal stamina was something.

Stark was flying around, backing up the Hulk and Clint, who was shooting explosive arrows in every direction. He looked a bit crazy, but yet he still never missed a mark.

Yes, the battle was going pretty well, until Fury alerted them to an incoming missile that was going to blow up Manhattan.

"Should I close it?" Natasha shouted over the comm.

"Not yet, Romanoff," Tony replied hurriedly. "There's a missile headed straight for us, and guess what? I know exactly where to put it."

Ana felt a violent shiver travel up her spine. "W-What? Tony?" She stuttered, stopping cold and forcing Thor to cover for her.

Jarvis cut in. "Sir, you know this is a one-way trip."

Tony gave a sad smile, though he knew no one could see it. "It's been a pleasure working with you Jarvis," he whispered, clutching the missile tighter.

"No! Stark, don't you dare," Ana trailed off, a hard tone to her voice though Tony could hear the tremor. "Don't… Please," she begged.

Tony swallowed, attempting to reply. His throat was so dry and cracked he didn't dare speak. "Auf Wiedersehen, darling," he managed, before disappearing through the portal.

Ana looked up in disbelief, in absolute shock, not noticing as the aliens fell around her. The missile had done its job. "A Sound of Music reference?" She whispered in sheer astonishment. "The asshole dies on me with a damn musical reference?" She shouted angrily, though only Steve and Thor could hear her. She would not let the tears fall. Not _yet._

Come on, Stark," Natasha whispered, scepter poised to enter the Tesseract.

After a minute, Steve had to make a decision. "Close it," he commanded miserably, sighing deeply. Natasha thrust the scepter inside, but Ana wasn't giving up so easily.

"Steve?" Ana whispered, eyes directed to where Tony had recently disappeared. "I'm going to need you to catch me."

The Captain's sad face melted into a confused one. "What?"

However, she was no longer paying attention to him. Thor looked on knowingly. "Never thought I'd use this…"

She stood staunchly beside her fellow avengers, gazing up at the sky. "Come on, Adramela," she whispered to herself. "Mother spent years teaching you this… Reach deep inside yourself..."

Ana did so, closing her eyes gently. She gasped as magic, which seemingly knew what to do without her commanding it, seemed to wrap down her arms and legs, lifting her slightly off the ground. She opened her eyes; they glowed a magnificent white.

Though Thor had seen this happen before, the Hulk and Steve watched in awe as palpable magic shot into the air, directed toward the portal. "What's happening?" the super soldier questioned.

"She is relinquishing her all power," Thor explained. "A magical being can do one act of great power in their lengthy lifetime. Adramela has chosen to distort space and time in order to retrieve her Iron Man."

Steve watched in wonder as the magic curled firmly around Ana, but she wasn't really Ana at the moment. For one last time, she was Princess Adramela, the only elf left in a world already teeming with remarkable people. But yet, the brunette was in a category all by herself.

All the bright, golden light seemed to center around her midriff, before it exploded in a myriad of colors, bathing the nearby streets in light. A few brave, curious heads popped up in windows, staring on in fascination. Steve waited patiently for Tony to appear.

Sure enough, seconds later, the form of Ironman appeared at the top of the portal; it immediately closed as his body left the area. He floated down, landing gently on the pavement. Ana collapsed in exhaustion, but Steve caught her, swinging her fluidly into his strong arms. After only a moment of silence, she coughed, green eyes fluttering open.

"Did it work?" She croaked immediately. Steve nodded, letting her slide out of arms. She fell to her knees beside the motionless billionaire. Her hands moved to tear off his helmet, but she couldn't seem to find the strength. The Hulk gladly did so for her; the green giant obviously had a special affinity for the genius.

They stared at Tony's peaceful face, waiting for a movement or twitch. The Hulk got impatient very quickly.

At the powerful roar, Tony jerked awake. "Ahh- What?" Tense expressions broke into relieved smiles. "What happened?"

"We won," Steve replied, still not really believing the words that left his mouth.

Tony laid back, a small smile playing on his lips. "Yay, alright you guys! Let's just… not come in tomorrow, okay? Let's just take a da-mmmmmm."

After a few seconds, Ana leaned back, smiling gently. Tony smirked at her. "Is that what going to happen when I talk too much? Because then I need to start running my mouth more."

Ana ran her fingers through his chocolate-brown hair almost wistfully, but her expression was playful. "You wish," she teased.

"I do," Tony agreed. "Rodgers, Point-Break, Big Guy?"

"We're all fine," Steve replied to his unspoken question. "I'm just… really hungry, actually," he realized.

"Have you guys ever tried Shawarma?" Tony asked suddenly. "I don't know what it is… but now I really want to try it."

Steve looked up at Stark Tower, which was now actually 'A' Tower. Steve wasn't really sure how that happened, but he wondered if it was coincidence, or if someone was trying to tell them something. "It's not over yet."

Captain America had only meant that they still had to deal with Loki, but he truly had no idea how accurate his simple statement was.

AAA

_Review?_


	15. Surrounded But Alone

_**Author's Note: **__Okay, so we are out of the movie zone, you guys! However, I still have quite a few chapters left in me…_

_So, we rule out another guess for the person that caught Ana… Hmmmm…_

**Born To Die**

**Surrounded But Alone**

_One day later…_

Looking around her at the celebrating Avengers, Ana knew she should be participating in the festivities. But ever since the battle had ended, and they had put Loki in the unbreakable room until they had the Tesseract up and ready to transport the brothers back to Asgard, something had just felt _off._

At first she passed it off as not having extra magic anymore; it supposedly was a daunting feeling. But a day later, she knew it was something more. Something _big._

Clint was way too drunk to notice a thing. Steve and Bruce were obviously overwhelmed with the prospect of being in a club like the one the Avengers –Tony- had chosen, and Natasha was enjoying beating all the men at the dart board in the back.

However, Tony watched her with confused eyes from the bar. She guessed she did make quite a sight: a pretty girl in a dance club leaning silently against the wall in a dark corner, all alone. He leaned over the bar, speaking quickly to the bartender, coming away with two drinks and a big smile on his face. He walked over to her, holding up both glasses.

"I'll take the Vodka," she spoke, answering his silent question. He handed her the glass, propping himself against the wall next to her. He threw an arm around her shoulders, and she fought the instinctive reaction to push him off, instead leaning her head against his shoulder.

"What's up?" He asked her, taking a sip of the Scotch in his hand. "A pretty Avenger like you should be celebrating." He paused, giving her a cocky smile. "We did just save the world yesterday, you know."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I was there," she quipped, rewarding him with a quick grin. "You should go back out there. Dance with Tasha; I think those men are beginning to get angry at her skill," she pointed out as Natasha nailed another bull's eye.

Tony shrugged, tightening his arm around her. "She handled Bruce," he mentioned, "I think she's can deal with a bunch of drunk guys. And I'd rather dance with you, sweetheart." He looked down at her, and although he was smiling, she could see the worry in his eyes. Then his smile disappeared.

"Tony?"

He took her drink from her hands, placing it on the table next to them along with his own. Then he took her by the hand, pulling her outside the club. All the noise immediately died away.

"Tony, what are you doing?"

He smoothly took her other hand, looking at her with his chocolate brown eyes. "Ana," he began seriously, "please tell me if something's wrong. You know I can-"

The ring of her cell phone cut him off. They both stared at her pocket, and Ana knew if she were anything less than an assassin, she would've blushed. "Hold that thought," she requested, pulling out the Stark phone that Tony had put together for her. "It's Thor," she realized in dismay.

"What?" Tony asked, pulling the phone away from her. "But I thought he was with…"

"…Loki," they finished together, and Tony answered it.

"Thor?" He asked right off the bat. "How is Reindeer Games?" He listened for a minute, and suddenly the relief showed on his face. "Oh good. What do you need, bro?" Another pause. "No. Bro is a nickname, I'm not your brother." This time the pause was longer, and Ana watched carefully as Tony's face hardened. "He wants to talk to her? I'm not sure that's the best idea."

Ana, however, had now had enough. She softly stepped up to Tony –her boyfriend?- deftly slipping the phone from his fingers. "Yes, Thor? I'll be there in a few minutes." She slid the phone back into her pocket, stepping to the curb and hailing a cab.

Tony grabbed her arm. "Sweetheart, are you sure about this?"

Ana smiled gently at the billionaire, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around his neck and lining her body up with his. Her yellow tank top rode up slightly, letting the bandages that Bruce had wrapped carefully around her navel last night peek out. She kissed him swiftly on the lips, pulling away teasingly when he tried to deepen it. "Everything will be fine," she replied cheekily, her mood brightened the possibility that Loki might have answers. "You'll see."

Tony growled, still hanging. "Woman, you cannot just-"

But by the time he looked down, the cab was already pulling away, and he was left to plan his revenge.

AAA

The silence inside the containment room was absolutely deafening. Ana flinched as she heard the clicking sound of the heels Pepper had picked out for her so long ago as they snapped against the floor. She had a sudden urge to take them off, but suppressed it. She needed them to have a confident height, yet still Loki and Thor absolutely towered over her. Just as they did in her childhood.

Loki stood in the middle of his cell, looking down at his feet. Thor stood about five feet away from her, looking at his brother in sadness.

"What do you want?" She addressed Loki immediately, breaking the silence.

Loki walked toward her, pressing himself against the glass. "Mela," he began urgently, lifting his head to pin her with a worried gaze. Ana was shocked; there was no way he would be worried for her... unless something really bad had happened.

"What is it, Loki?" She demanded, meeting his gaze. "Why have I been feeling like this?"

Thor was at her side in seconds, a hand on her shoulder. She had never seen him this serious. "Adramela, before Loki bestows this knowledge," he pleaded solemnly, "just know I will marry you myself to fix this."

She stared at him shock before slapping him across the face. Hard. "Thor!" She exclaimed. "But Jane... How dare you?"

The God barely flinched at her blow, healing immediately. Ana was instantly reminded of his immortality, just like... just like... hers?

Something inside her clicked, and she slipped to the ground in astonishment. Her expression was blank. She could feel Thor pull her back up, and Loki's following words seemed miles away.

Mela, I'm so sorry. You lost it saving your Ironman." Loki hesitated, but eventually brought a hand to the glass. Ana knew he still regarded her as a sister, even after all this. "My war brought this upon you. I am truly sorry."

Ana pulled herself up, nudging Thor away. She had never enjoyed appearing weak. "But you don't regret it," she pointed out begrudgingly. She still couldn't quite grasp that Loki was still not repentant about his quest for power. He was just so different from the Loki she had known so long ago.

The God shook his head. "Never," he whispered, backing away and resuming his position from when she had entered. "You would do well to consider Thor's offer, Adramela. I am sure Mr. Stark and Miss Foster would not be hostile, under the circumstances."

Ana snorted. Tony, _hostile? _Tony would be absolutely ecstatic if he found that she was no longer immortal. She knew that, in some ways, he viewed it as the only thing that kept them apart. "Stark would explode in excitement if I told him I was no longer immortal," she admitted. If she married Thor to _regain _that immortality, Tony would kill her in cold blood. If not physically, then he would kill her verbally. And she knew he could do that.

Good thing she would never do something like that.

"Sorry, guys, but I refuse to take your advice this time."

Loki nodded smoothly, as if he had been expecting this outcome. He smiled tightly at her, raising his hand in a silent farewell. She couldn't help the tears as they gathered at the corners of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She could swear Loki's eyes were not dry either, and copied his earlier motion, curling her fingers a bit. They both knew they would have a public goodbye when the Avengers gathered to see the two Asgardians off, but Ana would be damned if she let herself show emotional weakness toward the enemy when her team was around.

Thor tilted his head, as if questioning her decision, but in the end he decided not to question it. "If you suffer a change of mind?"

Ana gave him a soft smile. "You will be the first to know, brother."

"Are you alright?" He asked her.

She examined this question. Was she? She didn't really feel too sad about her immortality; after all, she would have no one to spend it with anyways. She was even a bit relieved; she could be with Tony without worrying about watching him and the rest of the Avengers die. She really no longer needed her immortality.

Of course, that didn't keep her from missing it a little. "I will be," she promised him seriously.

Thor grinned, squeezing her arm. "I will miss you, Mela."

"You will visit," Ana insisted, before turning to leave. She knew both the brothers would be back; a gut-feeling, if you will. She was almost at the door when she stopped short. "Oh, and thanks Loki."

The God looked up at her. "For what?" He questioned, genuinely confused.

"For saving me earlier, before the battle," she clarified. "That was you, right?"

Loki shook his head, and Ana was struck with a moment of intense confusion. It hadn't been the God of Lies? That had been her last guess. She knew that a man had saved her; the arms that had wrapped around her were muscular and strong. She had heard the breathing, and the murmurs… They had sounded so familiar.

"Forget I said anything," she requested suddenly, spinning on her heel and disappearing from the room.

Loki returned to staring at the floor, feeling his adopted brother's gaze burn through his forehead. "What is it?" He demanded nastily, whipping his head up to stare at Thor.

"Nothing," Thor replied quickly. Loki raised an eyebrow, and his meaning was clear. Loki was the _God of Lies, _and he was pretty good at detecting fabrication. The other demigod sighed. "I worry for Adramela," he admitted. "Just as I worry for you."

Loki said nothing more, but Thor could've sworn he had seen his brother's lips twitch up before the raven-haired god turned away.

It was a start.

AAA

"I've never been to Central Park, actually," Ana realized as she swung her legs over and off Steve's motorcycle. The super soldier stared at her in shock, but Ana could only shrug. How could she explain the fact that she had never been to New York City's most popular attraction?

"You probably at least flew over it," Steve offered, giving her a small smile. The brunette gave a soft noise of agreement, her stomach rolling in protect of the mention of that horrible ride. She had never had motion sickness, but on the day of the battle she had been awfully close. She forced a grin up at Steve.

The soldier looked away; he knew he hadn't really gotten over the elf yet, and spending time with her alone for the first time since she had begun seeing Stark was a bit difficult for him. Not that Stark had been completely _supportive _of Ana's method of transportation that morning. Steve couldn't possibly imagine why; did he actually think Steve would try something?

Thor and Loki were already waiting for them, and Ana scanned the area, noticing at least twenty undercover SHIELD cars in the vicinity. Steve, however, seemed oblivious, but he hadn't been trained to notice these things like she had.

Saving them from a potentially awkward moment, Natasha and Clint pulled up, getting out of the black Ferrari they had arrived in and joining their fellow Avengers.

"Where's Stark?" Natasha asked irritably. "Fury's shipping Clint and I down to Atlanta in two hours, and we need to drive all the way to the SHIELD air base near the harbor." Steve choked suddenly, but the others just ignored him.

"He'll be here," Ana told them conversationally, not really seeing anything wrong with that statement.

Steve was still in shock from Natasha's earlier statement. "Y-You mean you guys aren't st-staying?" He stuttered, wanting to sigh at his own stupidity. "In New York, I mean."

The three assassins shot him funny looks. "No," Clint replied slowly, tilting his head curiously at the Captain. "We have a mission."

Steve looked down, blushing bright red. He lightly pushed Ana's arm away when she attempted to squeeze his hand. "I-I just thought," he trailed off.

"Thought what, Rodgers?"

Tony sauntered up, Bruce trailing slowly behind him. The billionaire immediately pressed a soft kiss to Ana's temple, his actions completely not supporting the acidity in his opening statement. He kept his eyes trained on Steve.

"Nothing," Steve covered quickly, looking away. "Let's get this over with."

Tony raised an eyebrow, but quickly approached Thor to pat him on the back. The others gave him similar goodbyes, except for Ana and Natasha, both of whom wrapped their arms around him briefly.

The Avengers, minus one, backed up. Tony put his right arm around Ana, doing the same to Natasha on the other side. Both women pushed him away promptly. The billionaire shrugged, but didn't protest. He would never dare push Natasha for fear of losing a limb, and for that matter, Ana either. He also noticed Ana's broken expression as she watched the spot where the two Asgardians had just disappeared, and he knew he was no good with upset women.

The adventure seemed to be nearly over, and although Tony felt a small pain in his chest, he was happy that he could finally spend some alone time with Anastasia.

Tony smirked. _All_ alone.

AAA

Steve was feeling a similar pain in his chest, only significantly greater. This was the first time he had felt somewhat like he belonged in a long time, and now the team was breaking up. They were all going their separate ways, yet still Steve could only see this scenario playing over and over again in his head:

_Steve was smiling in the kitchen, sliding some pasta noodles into a huge pot of boiling water. Bruce and Thor came in with two grocery bags, unloading them in the pantry and refrigerator. Natasha was setting the table, and Anastasia was cutting up vegetables, throwing a grin in his direction every few minutes. Tony and Clint came stumbling in with the rest of the food, and they all laughed together. _

_Eventually, the food was ready, and they all settled down in their seats, telling stories and jokes. Steve was at the head of the table, smiling proudly at his team. At his… family._

But when Steve opened his eyes, Natasha and Clint were already gone. Ana, Tony, and Bruce were disappearing around the corner in Tony's car; the brunette was much too wrapped up in her Ironman to even consider throwing a smile his way. For the first time since he woke up from the ice, Steve mostly just wanted to curl up on his couch and cry.

He was all alone again.

AAA

_Poor Steve, you guys! Ah, I love CA. It killed me to write that. I kept wanted to go back and make Clint hug him or something. That would've worked, right?_

_Love you all! Please leave me your wonderful feedback!_


	16. Fix You

_**Author's Note: **__Okay, pure fluff in this chapter. It's actually kind of sad, but I'm trying to be nice to you guys before the bad stuff happens. The calm before the storm, as it were._

_Chapter title is a product of Coldplay… Yep. _

_Enjoy, and thanks for all your positive reviews! Hopefully Steve will get his dream, which we realize in this chapter is not only Steve's dream…_

**Born To Die**

**Fix You**

Ana woke up to find that she was not in the bed that she fell asleep in.

In fact, she wasn't in a bed at all. She was in an overly plush seat. As she came to terms with her surroundings, she noticed Tony in the seat across from her, doing something on his phone. The window to the left of her was small, but big enough for her to notice that they had to be at least ten thousand feet above the ground.

Hearing her moving around, Tony looked up and smiled. "Good. You're awake."

Ana completely ignored his words, throwing the blanket off her and onto the floor. "Excuse me? Where the hell are you taking me?" She asked angrily. "Tony-"

Alerted by the sliding of a door, both Ana and Tony looked up to see a flight attendant entered. "Miss Woods, can I get you anything?"

Anastasia turned to the young woman, a polite smile on her face. "No, thank you," she turned down congenially. Tony stared at her, in shock of how fast she had gathered the anger off her face.

"Mr. Stark?"

"No thanks, Amy," he replied absentmindedly. The woman left the room, shooting a grateful smile at the brunette across from her boss. Apparently not many girls that went on trips with Tony were very nice.

The minute the attendant left, the smile melted off Ana's face. Tony's hands shot into the air in submission. "Okay, okay! We're headed to the Caribbean. I figured you and I could use a vacation."

Ana relaxed. "That's… very thoughtful of you, Tony," she complimented hesitantly.

The billionaire grinned at her, sensing that he was no longer in trouble. "It was a split second decision, sweetheart," he offered, placing his phone on the side table and standing up. He bent over, kissing her softly on the corner of her mouth. "Bruce is staying at Stark Tower for another week, but I bought him a plane ticket back to India next Thursday. The others are welcome, but-"

"They'll all go back to where they were staying previously, I'm sure," Ana finished for him, sighing.

Tony looked at her for a long moment, eventually opening his mouth to speak. But Ana, not noticing, beat him to it. "I'll probably go back to my apartment for the time being." She watched as Tony's expression went blank. "What?"

"Nothing," he promised, returning to his seat. He tried not to think of what he had been about to say: that he was having Jarvis remodel the tower to include floors for all the Avengers, including one for Ana. He wouldn't think about how he had been about to offer that her floor just be for show, and how she could just stay on his. Maybe he was growing too sappy, or maybe he was moving too quickly? But it seemed like they had already been through so much together.

And son of a bitch, he was starting to sound like Steve.

The attendant poked her head in. "We're preparing for landing, Mr. Stark, Miss Woods," she informed both of them before disappearing back to the cockpit.

"Ready, sweetheart?" Tony asked Ana. She nodded.

The billionaire smirked to himself. He had plenty of time to convince her to stay with him, starting with a week of beach time.

AAA

"_Tony Stark! _I refuse to wear this… this _thing _out in broad daylight!"

Tony rolled his eyes, leaning up against the wall outside on the balcony. "Come on, sweetheart," he implored. "It's a private beach: just you and me."

There was silence, before Ana stepped out of the house and Tony's eyes went wide. "Wow…" he began, trying to himself from stuttering and sounding like a fool. "You look stunning," he finished honestly.

Ana crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at him before a small smirk overtook her features. "You're lucky that I'm used to seducing men in less than this," she quipped, waving a careless hand toward the red and gold bikini. "The colors are a nice touch, by the way."

Tony growled, stalking intently toward her, but Ana simply turned and took off down the beach. He ran after her, pulling her into the water with him. The ex-princess laughed, splashing him forcefully before he caught her arm, throwing them both into the water.

He lifted her up, one arm under her legs and the other around her upper back. Spinning her around, he enjoyed the feel of her skin on his; he had never touched her like this before. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he fell backwards into the salty water. The brunette rolled her eyes.

Ana managed to get on top on him, smooth legs wrapping tightly around his waist. They wrestled playfully for a minute, before a thought suddenly popped into Tony's head. "Hey, Ana?"

"Yes?"

"You know that thing Natasha does with her thighs? The choking people thing?" Tony asked. Ana nodded, knowing where this inquiry was going. "Can you do that?"

The brunette ran her fingers through his wet hair. "I was the one that taught her."

The man beneath her was surprisingly silent for a few minutes. "Is it wrong and weird that I'm turned on by that?"

Ana's eyes went wide, and she hit her billionaire on the chest. "Tony!" She exclaimed in astonishment, but pushed herself closer to him in order to meet his lips with hers.

After a long, quite exhausting day at the beach, both Ana and Tony were beyond sunburned, not to mention hungry. Apparently Tony had thought ahead enough to have skimpy swimsuits ready for her use, but no sunscreen. Sometimes she wondered if he would remember his favorite suit before his own head, if it weren't attached.

Ana stepped out of the shower, toweling herself off quickly. She left her brown curls to hang loose and wet, pulling a tank top over her head.

"Woman! How long does it take to shower anyways?"

Ana smirked, stepping into her boy-shorts. "I can make it longer," she offered, and felt triumphant to hear sputtering from the other room.

She grabbed a roll of gauze, looking around at the bedroom of Tony Stark's beach house one last time. The bed dominated an entire wall, black and ivory and _huge_. The bathroom was probably the size her bedroom and living room combined. She smiled at the empty room, at peace for the first time since... well, a very long time.

She left the room, padding softly down the hallway to the living room, taking in the sight of an oddly quiet Tony relaxing on the couch. He was sitting, legs carelessly spread wide and glass of wine in hand, and once his dark brown eyes found her they never left. They stared at each other in silence, eyes slipping up and down figures, until brown met green. He lifted his hand, curling the index finger slowly, eyes blatantly trained on her lips, which were swiftly twitching up into a smile. No words were needed.

She was standing before him in seconds, and his warm hands slid onto her thighs, guiding her firmly onto his lap. He deftly stole the gauze from her hands, leaving them to grasp lightly onto his broad shoulders. She leaned forward slightly to allow him access to her waist, eliciting an almost inaudible gasp from the billionaire beneath her.

Tony's hands slipped smoothly under her tank, raising it with his fingers as he ran them gently over her toned stomach. It was unreal, this love, he thought as his breath hitched at the lovely revelation that she was _here_. A tangible, warm, real person that he could feel in his hands, that he could hold tighter if he felt the need. His entire body ached, trying to convince him to meet those smoky emerald eyes that he knew were trained on his face, but kept himself focused on wrapping her wound. The wound she received because of _him_.

But it would not happen again. He had her in his arms now, and there she would be safe from whoever wanted to hurt her. And fuck the idiot who tried, because he already knew he would kill for her.

Hell, he would die for her.

He gently tucked the last end of the gauze inside the rest, attempting not to sigh too longingly at the feeling of the ivory skin of her back beneath his calloused hands. He raised his hands to pull her shirt back down, but her hands were already there, falling on his. He stilled, daring to raise his eyes. Hearing her breath quicken, his heart sped up in reply. Her oval-shaped eyes, previously averted, met his. He didn't doubt that they were most likely almost black, judging from the lust surging in hers. For a second, neither moved.

And then his lips fell on hers, and Tony's world blurred out because the only important thing was right in front of him and he'd be damned if she didn't have all his focus at that moment. Not one invention, or thought of his mother, father, Pepper, or the Avengers passed through his genius mind. There was no room for elves, Iron men, billionaires, or assassins. She was Ana, and he was Tony, and screw everyone else on the planet because all he needed was her.

The rest of the world fell away, because Tony realized the only constant he had was Anastasia Woods, and he wanted to keep it that way. Because he wanted to keep her right there, with him, for forever.

He hoped she knew that.

He reached forward, pulling her tightly against him so they were chest to chest. They pulled apart for a brief moment, and Ana gave him a gentle smile. "Can we just stay here?" He breathed. "Can I just keep you here with me?"

Ana paused. She was almost wary; he was so vulnerable right now, though he would never admit it. His words were also dangerous. She didn't know what to say; did he mean it? Did he really want to stay here, with her, and leave everything else on the backburner? She knew he probably would, but she didn't have the heart to take him away for Stark Industries. Or from his duty of Ironman. She knew she would eventually have to share him with the rest of the world, but right now she was his, and he was hers.

"Forever is a very long time," she told him seriously.

Tony leaned his forehead against hers. "I know. And I want you for all of it," he promised.

Ana couldn't hold back her grin, leaning in and kissing him again, only harder. He responded eagerly, supporting her with one arm around her waist and the other in her chocolate curls. He soon grew impatient and spun them around, pushing her down on the couch and pulling off his shirt, climbing over her body. All this in order to lean down and kiss her again. He pressed her down into the cushion so hard that she took a second to wonder if she might leave a permanent indent in the black material. As if he read her thoughts, Tony chuckled lowly, and she used every ounce of flexibility she owned to wrap her limbs around him as tightly as possible. He growled in response, and she wanted to laugh. But, then again, her mouth was quite preoccupied.

It was going to be a long night.

AAA

Tony woke up naked on the floor beside his couch.

He groaned at the incoming sunlight, and knowing he would get no more sleep with all the light coming in, he sat up slowly, trying to come to terms with what happened last night. He noticed with jealousy that his lover was comfortably wrapped up in a sheet on the couch, and with a mischievous smile, he grabbed her arm and pulled her down on top of him. She woke up with a start, and Tony found himself in a chokehold with a knife pressed against his chest.

When Ana realized it was him, she released the knife, muttering angrily under her breath. However, Tony smirked at her, because however much she grumbled, she couldn't hide the fact that she was glowing. And being the egotistic man he was, this made Tony extremely happy.

"_Never _do that again," Ana murmured, a bit irritated, but her eyes told a different story.

Tony wrapped one arm around her waist, slowly peeling off the sheet that was wrapped around her body. "Do you always have a knife on you?" He asked conversationally. Ana simply glared at him, so Tony decided to take a different track. "Let's have sex," he volunteered cheerfully, gazing hopefully up at her with big eyes.

Ana laughed. "Didn't we already?" Tony rolled her over so that he was on top. "But I'm hungry," she complained, holding her stomach.

"But I love you," Tony returned playfully, and Ana went quiet.

Tony had, of course, known that Ana had never returned his declarations. He thought maybe it had to do with her past, so he never pushed her. Though he was sure it would be nice to hear it. At least once.

"I know," she replied finally, meeting his eyes firmly. Tony could see the well-suppressed tears in her emerald irises.

Tony sighed; while he would love just to ignore that and reach down to kiss her thoroughly, he knew that wasn't what she needed. He rolled off her, standing up and putting on his shorts. "Come on," he offered, holding out his hand to her. "Let's go for a walk."

Ana eyed him silently for a minute, before reaching up and gently grasped his hand with hers.

She threw on a t-shirt and her red bathing-suit bottoms, joining Tony on the beach. It was stormy today, and the sea tossed and turned. It was a bit like her emotional level at the moment. Tony tucked her under his shoulder, and for once, the brunette allowed it. She knew she was becoming soft, feeling comforted and protected by a man after all that she had been through. In protest to her thoughts, she wrapped an arm around her boyfriend's waist.

"What was your family like?" She asked him, staring at the white-capped waves.

"Quid pro quo, my dear," he quipped, but answered her question. "Terrible, if you must know. My father didn't care about me, and my mother only wanted to please him. I was watched by at least fifteen different nannies, only ever wanted my dad to notice, you know? But I know now that I don't really need his approval." Tony paused, as if contemplating his next words. "But it would've been nice," he added quietly, not really wanting to admit that fact.

Ana took a deep breath. "Well, my father was far too busy to care about any of us than my eldest sister, who he was always grooming for the throne. My mother hated that I was not lady-like, so she focused on my other sisters, most of whom were. One or two of my sisters would watch over me, but like any royal family, all that was cared about was advancing in the grand scheme of things. The only thing I was valued for was my relationship with Loki and Thor." She turned her face into Tony's side, and her words were slightly jumbled. "Then they all died, and I could never tell them I loved them again."

Tony dropped to the ground, holding a shaking Ana in his arms. "Let it out, sweetheart," he said, staring out at the tempestuous ocean. He smoothed down her brown curls, letting a few tears escape his own eyes. "I'm going to fix this; you're going to fix me, okay? And I will fix you."

AAA

_Coldplay is influencing my writing again! Yay…_

_A whole fluffy chapter. I was surprised I could manage it._

_Review, pretty please!_


	17. The Storm

_**Author's Note: **__All I'm going to say is that the chapter title is probably an understatement._

**Born To Die**

**The Storm**

Tony wasn't sure how this happened. How _any _of this happened.

His heart was pounding in his skull and his blood was rushing past his ears, and he couldn't breathe. He couldn't _breathe._

He stumbled forward, grasping at the smooth skin of her arm, his calloused fingers encircling her wrist. He was pretty sure he had forced out another 'please'. Maybe a few. He choked on his own breath, and though it was painful, he raised his eyes to study her face. Maybe for the last time.

It was tear-stained and desperate, her eyes searching and memorizing his features as he did hers. "I'm so sorry," she sobbed agonizingly, raising both palms to press tightly against his cheeks. His hand slid to her waist, and he pulled her to him unyieldingly, burying his face in her neck. She pushed her fingers through his hair, and he cradled the back of her head, sifting through the wet strands of chocolate curls.

One moment she was in his arms, and the next she was gone. Tony couldn't even say when. He felt _cold._ Empty. Alone.

AAA

_That morning…_

Against her will, Ana smiled fondly at the sleeping Tony beside her.

Somewhere between Georgia and South Carolina he had dozed off, and as she had learned from the weeks before Loki, Tony didn't sleep much, so it wasn't good to wake him up when he finally did.

Happy opened the car door for them, glancing amusedly at his sleeping boss. "Want me to wake him up for you, Miss Woods?"

"No thanks," she replied immediately. "You can go get some sleep, Mr. Hogan."

The driver smiled at her warily, and Ana accepted it as a step forward. She knew everyone associated with Tony barely trusted her at all, especially after Natasha came through.

She stepped out of the car, moving around to the other side in order to shake her boyfriend gently. "Tony? We're at Stark Tower; you have to wake up."

The billionaire barely moved, and she rolled her eyes.

"Miss Woods?"

"I've got this, Happy," she shot back firmly. "He can't weigh that much."

So before the driver could stop her, Ana had Tony slung over her shoulder, one hand pressed into his waist. Happy stared in shock, but Ana simply winked at him before entering the building.

It hadn't quite been a week yet, so Bruce hurried out to meet her. "Jarvis told me you were here," he panted, out of breath. "Need any help with that?"

Ana grinned. "Romantic, isn't it?" She quipped before slipping inside the elevator. Bruce followed her silently.

"Enjoy the trip?" He asked awkwardly as they made their way into Tony's living room.

She shrugged, eyeing him as she slung her deadweight onto the couch. "I'm not one for small talk, either." Bruce sighed in relief. "But, I am going to ask," she continued. "Have you eaten yet?"

Bruce turned a light shade of red, shaking his head sheepishly. "No… But there was a breakthrough in my gamma research," he exclaimed, knowing it was a rather flimsy excuse. "I think I may be able to replicate radioisotopes in any lab; it's simple actually…" he rambled.

Ana held up a firm hand. "Je ne comprends pas," she interrupted in an amused tone. "I don't understand physics like Tony and you." The was an empty pause, then: "Do you want some pancakes?"

AAA

_That afternoon… _

Ana slid onto a stool in Tony's state of the art lab; both men practically ignored her, too wrapped up in their work to notice what was going on around them. She had just come from a long workout, realizing only when she got into the gym how sore and out of shape she was. She had only destroyed six of the usual twelve punching bags she normally disposed of.

"Bruce, when are you heading back," Ana asked conversationally, spinning on the chair to face the curly-haired scientist.

He didn't even glance at her. "Tomorrow morning."

Tony, on the other hand, quit fiddling with whatever he held in his hand, looking up at the only man he regarded as an equal in regard to his genius. "So eager to get rid of us, Banner? I thought you, me, and the big guy were finally bonding." He pouted adorably, but Ana could only roll her eyes.

"Oh please, Stark," she began, leaning forward. "You're just going to miss having another genius around."

Tony grinned at her. "Oh yeah. Then it will just be me and you, baby doll. Whatever could we possibly do…"

Bruce threw his hands into the hand. "This is a very hostile working environment, guys," he told them seriously. "I can't focus with your obscene flirting…"

Ana pretended to be surprised. "But Doctor Banner," she simpered, "I'm only the victim in this situation!"

Tony snorted. "Oh sure. The victim that can kill a man fifty ways with her thumb."

"Actually, it's two hundred and fifty, if we're being exact." She winked at Bruce, who chuckled just as Tony burst out into uproarious laughter.

Ana thought this might be the kind of situation she would like to be in for the rest of her mortal life. She had never felt camaraderie like this before, and she was briefly worried that she was going to become too attached to these people, especially to Tony.

"I got a call from Nat earlier. She and Barton are coming back up this evening," she finally mentioned. She had been slightly afraid of the others' reactions, but Tony seemed genuinely curious. Not at all hostile or angry.

"And why's that?" Bruce questioned. He was still a bit wary of Natasha and Ana, especially the former.

Ana looked at them in shock. "Does anyone ever read the files?" She lamented. "Steve's birthday is on Saturday. Today is Thursday. We're going to surprise him." She paused, then added quickly: "It was Barton's idea. I think he missed you guys."

Tony stared at her for a minute, but eventually a smile broke out over his face. "That's fantastic! I am going to throw the best, most awesome, birthday party ever for Capsicle!"

"He's never had one, you know," Ana admitted.

Tony barely even noticed her words, rambling on and on about the pure awesomeness of his coming party. Ana noticed he only mentioned Steve once, and for some reason this made her upset. "I'm going to Whole Foods. We're going to need more food."

The billionaire glanced surprisingly at her. "We have people for that."

"I know," she said simply, but both Tony and Bruce seemed to understand.

Tony tilted his head. "Take any car you want," he offered, "but if you get _one_ scratch on one of my babies…" he began to threaten, but Ana had already left the room. "I love you, sweetheart!" He shouted after her.

Tony turned back to see Bruce giving him an amused grin. "What?" he questioned the scientist defensively. "I was just saying goodbye."

"One of these days, she might think you're overusing it," Bruce commented softly, throwing Tony a confused look. "Why do you say it so much anyway?"

Tony shot back a small, euphoric grin. "Because I've never gotten to before now."

AAA

_Five minutes before…_

It was raining. It was raining _hard. _

Ana placed a hesitant hand on the doorknob, attempting and failing to mentally still the obvious tremor in her fingers. "Are you sure about this?" She whispered. Tears were already welling up in her emerald eyes, but she reminded herself that assassins did not cry. Of course, most assassins weren't desperately in love either, not that she'd ever admit that to anyone other than herself.

"You must," the shadow behind her assured. "I did not save you for nothing. You have other obligations."

The brunette turned on her heel, and the fire that ran through her body showed in her eyes. "Can you not accept that I am happy? You are ruining everything!" Cold eyes stared back at her, and she could feel herself caving.

"I will wait out here," the shadow informed her. "You know what will happen if you do not do as you are told."

Ana nearly shook with anger and despair. She spun back to the door, wrenching it open. The door shook with the force of her slam as she shut it behind her, and a bit of tension left her shoulders when she was no longer in _his _presence. A small puddle was forming at her feet from the rainwater. "Jarvis, tell Tony to come down here," she breathed, and the AI assured her that his boss was already on the way down.

"Can I get you anything, Miss Woods?" Jarvis sounded almost concerned, and Ana wanted to laugh.

"I wish you could help, Jarvis. But there's nothing else I can do." She looked down. "Just don't… don't let Stark do anything crazy when I leave, okay? Call Agent Romanoff, if you need any help."

"I will make sure Mr. Stark remains safe, Miss Woods," the AI assured her, and Ana gave the nearby monitor a small smile, relaying her thanks.

"Baby doll!" Ana cringed at the sound of Tony's happy tone. "Hey, why don't you have any groceries? Decide to- "Mid-quip, Tony noticed her expression and the smile melted off his face- "What's wrong? What happened?"

Ana turned away, tucking a strand of wet hair behind her ear. "I'm going to have to go away for a while, Tony."

The billionaire grabbed her arm, pulling her toward him slightly. "You're scaring me, baby doll. What are you talking about? What-"

He stopped abruptly, reaching forward to lift her hair from her neck. There, lined neatly in a row, were five bruises, all the shape of each finger. They were a deep purple, and Tony could even see the small, crescent-shaped cuts where the nails had dug in. "What the hell is this?" he snarled. "Who did this to you? I can be in the Ironman suit in thirty seconds- Ana, _give me a name."_

To Ana's horror, she began to stutter. "Tony, no. Tony, I have to go." She took a deep, shuddering breath. Then she leaned forward, throwing herself at the man and kissing him hard, finally burying her face in his neck. "I can't stay here."

Tony gave an unnatural laugh. "Yeah, Ana, you have an apartment. You can just come over sometimes." He knew this was no where near the truth, but he desperately wanted it to be. "You just have to stay with me… You're going to stay with me, right?"

Ana backed away like a frightened animal, shaking her head slowly. Tony lunged after her; like hell she was getting away this easily. "Is it me?" He questioned. There a strong burning in the back of his eyes. She shook her head harder, through the haze that was surrounding him, he could see her fingers on the doorknob. "Wait, Ana! Tell me what to do to make this happen. Tell me and I'll do it." He paused, waiting for her to speak, but there was only a huge, gaping silence. "I've never been this crazy until I met you," he whispered. "What are you doing to me, Anastasia Woods? I'm not snarky, playboy Tony Stark anymore. I'm yours."

Ana choked heavily on her own tears. "Please forgive me, Tony, I never wanted any of this to happen," she told him gently. "I don't have a choice."

He immediately met her eyes, and for the first time, he seemed angry. "You _always _have a choice," he shot back. "Now tell me who hurt you?"

How had everything gone so wrong so quickly?

_-Now-_

Tony wasn't sure how this happened. How _any _of this happened.

His heart was pounding in his skull and his blood was rushing past his ears, and he couldn't breathe. He couldn't _breathe._

He stumbled forward, grasping at the smooth skin of her arm, his calloused fingers encircling her wrist. He was pretty sure he had forced out another 'please'. Maybe a few. He choked on his own breath, and though it was painful, he raised his eyes to study her face. Maybe for the last time.

It was tear-stained and desperate, her eyes searching and memorizing his features as he did hers. "I'm so sorry," she sobbed agonizingly, raising both palms to press tightly against his cheeks. His hand slid to her waist, and he pulled her to him unyieldingly, burying his face in her neck. She pushed her fingers through his hair, and he cradled the back of her head, sifting through the wet strands of chocolate curls.

One moment she was in his arms, and the next she was gone. Tony couldn't even say when. He felt _cold._ Empty. Alone.

AAA

Minutes later, the door opened again.

Tony looked up, and the hopeful look on his face nearly broke Natasha's impenetrable heart. She swiftly wrapped her arms around the billionaire, to the surprise of an on-looking Clint, who seemed concerned. Tony knew that in any other situation, he would probably be frightened of the level of emotion on both of the assassins' faces.

"I know," he breathed. "Pitiful, right?"

"Never," she replied firmly. "Love is never pitiful," she lied. That wasn't her belief, but she knew none of that would help now. She wasn't exactly sure what happened, but she knew it must've had something to do with Ana.

Natasha gently helped Tony up, guiding him toward the elevator. "From now on," she began adamantly, "we're all going to stick together. As a _team."_

She left Tony with Bruce, who told him that Ana had left, though in his personal opinion, it hadn't been of her own volition. This confused Natasha; Anastasia had not been scared of anyone. Who could've convinced her to leave the first person that had made her happy?

Clint and Natasha carried their bags to their levels. If she hadn't been a cold, hardened assassin, the redhead might've cried when she saw the level of detail and thought that had gone into her floor. Tony Stark was not the asshole everyone always made him out to be.

She threw her bags on the sofa, walking over to the bedroom when a white, unadorned envelope on the coffee table caught her eye. She picked it up, feeling the wetness of the paper. It was probably from the rain outside, which meant this had been placed here recently. She ran a fingernail under the flap, breaking the seal.

She began to read, eyes widening in shock.

AAA

_So, cliffhanger! I was sort of sad with only four reviews last chapter, so I decided to be mean._

_Why do think Ana left? Who was the shadow? Why does it feel like I'm depressing Tony a lot? Hmm…_

_Review! There's even a nice little message box for you guys now._


	18. Always

_**Author's Note: **__Yes, the chapter title is based off of Snape's quote in Harry Potter. Just in case you Potterheads were wondering…_

_So, we see a moment between Steve and Ana a long time ago. I think I lost some of the closeness between the two when I was focusing on Tony and Ana… Which unfortunately, there is not much of that in this chapter. _

_There is Tony breaking glass things, though. But that's normal…_

_Right?_

_**Ashley: **__I hope you catch the reference to your review. I totally put it in here, because I was hysterical for like five minutes after I read it._

**Born To Die**

**Always**

_**Months earlier…**_

"_Hey Steve," Ana called out into his apartment, precariously balancing two full cups of coffee. _

"_Ana!" He exclaimed, taking her bag from her and one cup of coffee._

_On the outside, her laugh sounded so happy, yet Steve frowned at the underlying tones of sadness. "Such a gentleman," she teased._

"_I was raised to be," he told her, and he wasn't lying._

_Ana took a long sip of coffee, leaning back against the bar. "I was raised to be accepting. I suppose it was one good thing about my childhood."_

_Steve's eyes widened. Ana never talked about her past, and for fear of offending her, he never brought it up. "Really?" he managed, trying to find a good way to tell her that she was welcome to continue the train of thought. But he didn't want to push her in any way. He already knew he had a rather large crush on his neighbor._

_Ana simply nodded. "In fact, as my father viewed it, the more risqué, the better. Homosexuals, open marriages, the very young with the older, you name it."_

"_Wow," he said simply. "I guess I was just raised in a completely different environment."_

_She elbowed him playfully in the stomach. "Doesn't stop us from being friends, right?"_

"_Never," he swore. He couldn't even think of not having Ana in his life. Living in the modern world would be nearly impossible without her._

_Ana peered up at him, and she seemed slightly conflicted. "No matter what happens, right?" She questioned uncertainly. "We'll always have each other?"_

"_Always."_

AAA

_**Now…**_

_Dear Natasha,_

_ I must initially apologize for two things: first, any inconvenience my departure has given you, and second, the pain of what I am about to reveal._

_I am not sure if you knew or not, but I did not leave of my own volition. You must understand, Nat, I wanted to be with Tony. He has so many faults, but none quite match up to yours and mine, do they? He was perfect._

_My father is the one who retrieved me. I know, I was shocked too. My mother and father are both alive, but all my sisters passed in the fire. They have told me they are rebuilding Alfheim, so any messages can be passed to Thor. I know he will get them to me, if something extremely important happens._

_That said; please do not say a word of this to the others. Tony – well, he would be heartbroken, and I cannot bear to hurt him more than I already have. Steve, Bruce, and Clint would most likely inform Tony, but I think I can trust you, my dear. Please do not prove me wrong._

_I am getting married, Natasha._

_There, I said it, wrote it, whatever. My fiancé from so long ago is still living, and now my parents decree that we are to be wed. I do not wish to marry, Nat. I am not through with this world, but my father is very powerful and I am sure he will not let me stay unless better prospects come along. Which is very unlikely, considering marrying Gwindor will give me my immortality back. That is a good thing, right?_

_I was able to convince my father to give me a Midgardian wedding, to give you time to be here. I would love for you to be with me in my final moments on this planet, Natasha. You are probably my best friend. _

_It will be tomorrow morning, on the Californian coast; just look for an obscene magical trace, you should be able to find us._

_Thank you, _

_Adramela _

_PS. I will miss you all. Stay safe, and stay avenged._

Natasha slowly lowered the letter to let it flutter to the coffee table. Emotions blew through her. First being shock at the completely unexpected explanation. Next, anger at the way Anastasia Woods could just _leave. _They were going to be a family, and she just _left! _And finally, determination. This would not be the end. She refused to let it be the end.

But first, Natasha had a decision to make.

_How would she tell the others?_

AAA

Ana stared at herself in the mirror, seeing flashes of the maids and her mother as the women left and entered the room. The dress was beautiful, she conceded. It was loose around her shoulders, yet tightly bound around her waist. The silken elven material flowed flatteringly down from her waist, just brushing the tops of her bare feet. Her mother had good taste.

But Ana hated the dress. It would forever remind her of the mistake she had made. She felt Tony's presence next to her, behind her, always staring at her with pleading eyes. She closed her own emerald eyes, attempting to banish the vision. She longed for her suit, her guns, her knives. She longed for a laughing Steve, a smirking Natasha, a boisterous Thor. She longed for a motorcycle ride with Bruce and a quiet talk with Clint. Most of all, she longed for Tony's words and kisses, and she wished she could feel his arms wrapped tightly around her waist one more time.

"Does it feel fitted, my lady Princess?" One of the maids asked her nervously. Ana gave the girl a comforting smile and nod.

"Yes, it seems you all did a wonderful job. Now, I would like to get some sleep, so if someone could help me…" Immediately, hands were all over her, stripping the dress from her body and shoving a nightgown over her head. Ana rolled her eyes; she would also miss dressing herself.

She gave a huge, fake smile, dropping it as soon as every maid had left. She ran over to her small bag, pulling out sweatpants and a Stark Industries t-shirt that Tony had given her the first week that he had known her. Against her will, she smiled in retrospect at how stubborn they had both been. He had to practically force her into it, when now she felt no shame that it had been the first thing she had packed.

Slipping on the black arm-warmers that Steve had gifted her when they fought in the ring –though they were huge on her- she snuck out the window. She climbed silently down the building, dropping to the ground when she was close enough. The beach was close enough to walk to, so she did so, trekking over the dunes to sit calmly in the sand, listening to the sound of the waves gently lapping against the shore.

And though the beaches in Alfheim were infinitely more beautiful and clean, Ana thought she would miss this one quite a lot.

AAA

Natasha stepped into the open room on the top floor, eyes scanning the people in front of her. Steve had his head buried in his hands, eyes looking down at the table. He had obviously just arrived, only being a few hours away went Clint called. He seemed like he was in shock, blinking furiously.

Clint was shooting arrows at a target that he had set up earlier, and Natasha knew it was his way of keeping calm enough to think. Bruce was pacing back and forth, lost in thought. His eyes kept landing on a small dent in the wall across the room.

Tony simply sat at the head of the table with bloodshot eyes, nursing a bottle of whiskey with a bloody hand. Natasha instantly made the connection between the wall and the hand. She took a wet towel from the sink and walked over immediately, plucking the bottle from his hand and replacing it with her own hand, wiping away the dried blood. Tony tried to pull away, but the Black Widow only held tighter. The billionaire eventually relaxed, squeezing her hand in appreciation he would never say aloud. Natasha passed the bottle to Clint, who took it mindlessly to the refrigerator, still trying to process what he had just read.

"I loved her, Natalie," Tony exclaimed, too out of it to remember that Natasha was no longer his PA, and certainly not named Natalie.

Natasha smiled sadly, turning to Steve. "Keep him alive, okay?" She asked, nervously fingering the letter behind her back. "There's somewhere I need to go."

Steve looked up, and his glassy eyes focused on her. "Take someone with you," he commanded, and in any other situation, Natasha would've smiled. It had been a long time since someone cared what became of her. He attempted a smile, but it only came out as a grimace. "Can't have all our girls running off," he joked weakly.

"Doctor Banner, would you?" Natasha questioned, knowing Clint could read her too well, and the other two didn't look like they were going anywhere for a while. The scientist nodded, leaving the hole he was wearing in the floor to follow her up to the jet that was parked on the roof.

"Where are we going?" He asked.

She turned to him, and for once he caught uncertainty cross her stony face. "California. I'll explain on the way."

The first half of the trip was spent in silence, until Natasha knew the doctor could bear the silence no more. "I apologize for batting my eyelashes at you, Doctor," she finally said. Those words had been weighing her down for a long time, but now she couldn't look at him.

"Bruce," he replied quietly.

"What?"

"You can call me Bruce, Natasha," he said louder. She had to hide her smile.

"Why?" She had to ask, keeping her attention on the controls in front of her. She didn't like pity.

"Natasha." Was that_ laughter _in his voice? "You can look at me; the plane's on autopilot." The Black Widow almost blushed, turning to face Bruce, crossing her arms in front of her in an unconscious protective gesture. "I don't like SHIELD. I probably never will, but you're not part of SHIELD. Not like Fury, Hill, or even Barton. You're in a whole different category." He took a deep breath. "And you might be a liar and a killer, but I'd like to start over, because I think we could be friends." He held out his hand, and exactly like a line from a corny Lifetime movie, he said, "Hi, I'm Bruce Banner."

She rolled her eyes, but shook his outstretched hand. "Natasha Romanoff." She paused, trying to decide whether she should make a real effort. Shrugging mentally, she smirked back at him, figuring it couldn't hurt. "But you can call me Tasha."

Bruce smiled at her, and she was glad to see it was no longer that shy, introverted smile. "Is there anything you'd like to tell me about our destination, _Tasha?"_

She sighed, suddenly serious again. "Don't be angry," she told him, though she knew he couldn't help it if he was. "Anastasia… She's getting married."

Bruce's expression immediately lost all its playfulness. "What?" he growled, and she saw a flash of green in his eyes. It sent shivers down her back. "What about Tony?"

Natasha jumped to Ana's defense. "She didn't have a choice!" She yelled, trying to get through to both Bruce and the Hulk. "We are going to stop it!"

Bruce visibly calmed, but his fists were still clenching the armrests. "She's not cheating on him?" Natasha quickly shook her head. "How do you know all this?"

"She left me a letter," Natasha explained, handing him the letter. He swiftly scanned it, and the lime tint of his skin made him look as if he were about to hurl. "Bruce, are you-"

"I'm fine," he bit out. "I can hold it in, but that bastard fiancé is going to get it. All of it." Natasha nodded firmly in agreement. "Call Tony," he commanded, and Natasha complied, completely against messing with Bruce in this state.

She dialed Steve's number, figuring Tony was far too drunk to talk to her at this moment. The Captain picked up, and his greeting sounded sad, albeit alert.

"Get en route to California," she commanded. "I'm emailing Jarvis a letter; ask him to pull it up immediately. We're waiting for your directions on how to proceed."

Steve told her to stay on the line, and a few minutes later, she heard a gasp of disbelief and the sound of shattering glass. "What happened?" She panicked.

"Tony punched a window," he informed her grimly, but she got the impression that he was slightly amused. "Just be happy you're not in this building right now," he had to almost shout over the loud curses in the background.

Suddenly, the line went silent for a minute. Then slightly heavy breathing.

"_Where are you?"_

The words were almost a growl, and had she been any less of an assassin, Natasha would've flinched. "Over Nevada," she answered. "Tony-"

"_Natasha, I'm counting on you and the big guy, and I'll buy you a new car after this is over. Just. Stop. That. Fucking. Wedding."_

Each word was its own sentence, and Natasha and Bruce shared a smirk. A smirk of friendship and '_this guy is getting his ass kicked from here to Tahiti'. _Natasha only said four words before breaking the connection.

"Shouldn't be a problem."

AAA

_So, next we hear the plan, and Steve gets his big moment!_

_I always thought that Bruce and Natasha deserved a talk like that sometime. They got off on the wrong foot, but with their personalities, I think they could be really close._

_Which reminds me; I'm putting up a new poll on my profile, asking your preference between two Avengers pairings. You guys should definitely head over there and vote!_

_Just remember: Bruce is angry, Tony is drunk, Steve is hatching a plan, and Natasha is about to go all 'badass master assassin' on this guy's face._

_Oh my god, I just realized how fun this next chapter is going to be to write!_

_Thanks for the reviews, you guys! Keep 'em coming!_


	19. Objections

_**Author's Note: **__The title of this chapter also is a bit of an understatement. _

_But Tony finally gets 'it'. Because, honestly, though I love him to death, he deserves 'it'._

**Born To Die**

**Objections**

_She wasn't there._

_He was too late; she wasn't there._

_He heard the shouts and 'comforting' words of the people around him –his friends? - but it all seemed so far away, because she wasn't here._

_And he didn't think he could live with himself anymore. She had begun as a possibility for a one-night stand, and had swiftly and irrevocably wormed his way into his heart. Funny, he had used to think it was made of metal. But being surrounded by the Avengers, which he knew would never let him fight alone ever again, and her, he had felt invincible. Complete. _

_And this felt like all his fault. And now… Now she was gone. And as hard as he knew he would try and scream and plead, he knew that she wasn't coming back._

Tony awoke with a start, and the first observation that his completely hung-over brain made was that he was on a plane. Which, of course, he also had to say aloud.

"I'm on a plane," he said stupidly, wanting to slap himself right after the words escaped his mouth.

Clint looked over at him, eyebrows raised. "Yeah," he replied simply. The _dumbass _coming after that was implied.

Suddenly, it all came back to him. He remembered reading the carefully penned letter. He remembered the bottle of Vodka falling to the floor, sending glass shards flying across the carpet. He remembered breaking the nearby window, ruining Natasha's expertly wrapped bandages. The billionaire looked down at his fist, blinking surprisingly at the neat bandage that recovered his hand.

"Steve," Clint said by way of explanation.

Tony looked around again, staring out the window to get a glimpse of the terrain. However, all he could see were fluffy white clouds. "Where are we?" He asked groggily, closing his eyes against the glare of the invading white light hanging above him. "How long have I been out?"

Clint leaned back, and his usual serious face showed amusement. Of course, Tony had really only seen him when the situation was extremely serious, so maybe he was the easy-going to Natasha's high-maintenance. "We're over Nebraska," he answered. "You've been out since you talked to Tasha."

The billionaire groaned. "How much did I drink? I feel like I got ran over by a stampede of… what stampedes again? Zebras, right?"

Clint began to full out laugh, so it was Jarvis who answered his question. "Six bottles of Scotch, two of Vodka, and three of Whiskey, Mr. Stark. Eleven bottles total." Jarvis seemed to pause, pondering whether to take Tony's last question as rhetorical or not. He seemed to decide to he'd rather be safe than sorry, and finished with: "Add it is bulls that stampede, sir."

Tony ignored the last part of the answer. "Oh, so not as much as Kathmandu, then." At Clint's quizzical look, Tony smirked. However, it instantly turned into a grimace of pain. "Just ask Romanoff; I think she was there…"

Clint looked a little uncomfortable. "I'll just… go pilot the plane, okay?"

Tony smirked. "You mean the plane that's on autopilot?"

AAA

Ana silently brushed her hair, staring guardedly at her own expression. She had just about gotten her fill of Elven music, and in a violent rage, chased everyone out of her dressing room. She turned on the radio, wanting to cry when the same song that she had danced to with Steve came on –what were the odds?

_Starry, starry night_

_Paint your palate blue and gray…_

Suddenly, the sound of feet landing on the ground caught her attention. She gave a small smile to the mirror, closing her eyes gently. She didn't need her eyes to know exactly who it was.

"I remember you teaching me not to feel sorry for anything, especially myself."

Ana sighed, turning to face the girl, now woman, who she used to hold on stormy nights. "I was right, but sometimes it's rather hard," she admitted. "You told everyone, didn't you?"

Natasha looked confused. Ana had told her _not _to tell anyone, and although of course she did, that statement made no sense. Then it hit Natasha like a freight train coming toward her at full speed; Ana had used the oldest trick in the book. "You used a beginner's move like reverse psychology on me and I didn't catch it?" She asked disbelievingly.

The brunette smiled wryly as Natasha sat down in the nearest chair, still befuddled. She resumed brushing out her long locks. "Bruce is here, correct?" She asked, ignoring Natasha's rhetorical question. Any other time she would've teased the master assassin about it, but today was not the right day. "I can hear his breathing all the way from here."

Uncharacteristically, Natasha brought out a full-fledged grin. "He's really angry." To her surprise, Ana's smile immediately dropped at this statement. "What?"

"I'm sure Tony is too," she said quietly.

The two sat in silence for a while, Natasha having no clue how to respond to that and Anastasia enjoying the crackling sound of Don McLean sifting through the small stereo. Both of the assassins normally appreciated, even craved, the silence, but today Natasha was nearly bouncing on her toes. She was waiting for that ever-important call from Steve. "He's heartbroken," she finally announced, taking in Ana's obvious cringe.

"I don't deserve him," Ana admitted quietly. "I realized yesterday that he was always doing things for me – I don't think I once ever did a single thing for him. And then I had to be so frightened of my parents and leave…"

"There's something you can do for him," Natasha said urgently, green eyes focused on sparkling emerald. "Come with me; leave this whole thing behind…"

Ana stood up defensively, and Natasha immediately followed suit. "I can't!" She shouted. "Don't you understand? He'll find me! He'll hurt you all, like he did me." She pulled down the collar of her robe, showing the fingerprint shaped bruises.

Natasha gasped. "Your father is abusive?" She asked in shock. "But all your stories…"

Ana shook her head, walking over to the rack that held her wedding gown and holding it out to Natasha. "Help me dress," she commanded softly. Natasha nodded, unlacing the back while Ana untied her fluffy white robe. "He wasn't before," she began softly. "I think the fire changed him. He lost all his children except me, and now somehow he thinks that showing force will make me do whatever he says."

Natasha helped Ana pull the dress over her head. Not one apology left her lips; it was understood that they both knew that wouldn't help. "You look beautiful," the redhead said honestly when they had finished. Her friend did look amazing, and deep inside herself Natasha truly wished that Tony the one standing in the chapel, waiting for Anastasia to enter. She closed her eyes, trying to find an image of a glowingly happy Ana as Natasha tied ribbons in her hair and straightened her dress.

But behind her lids, she couldn't see anything except darkness.

"I better make sure Bruce hasn't gotten too angry," Natasha commented as she combed her fingers through Ana's long hair. She briefly pondered whether she missed her long hair, deciding that she did, maybe a little. Maybe she'd grow it out again.

Ana forced a smile, nodding in agreement. "I'll see you out there," she whispered.

The redhead put her determined face on, turning to Ana one last time. "We're going to get you out of this, or go down fighting," she told her friend fiercely. "You're part of this family now."

AAA

Tony looked up from his phone when Steve came to sit next to him. They didn't speak at first, but Tony noticed that the super solider seemed to be itching to say something. So he took pity on the blonde, putting down his phone and giving Steve his full attention.

"So, Stark, I think we got off on the wrong foot…"

Tony stared at the super solider in disbelief, holding up his palm. "Wait, are seriously trying to get all buddy-buddy with me when my _girlfriend _is currently getting married to some elf bastard right" –he glanced at his watch-less wrist for emphasis- "now?"

Steve just stared at him, finally shaking his head as he made a move to stand. "Sorry I even tried," he mumbled sarcastically, turning away from the billionaire.

Tony snorted. "I am too."

But the brunette hadn't realized that was the last nail in the coffin. Steve was pissed off and beyond done. He turned back to Tony, grabbing him by the front of shirt and pulling him up and out of his chair so that they were face to face. Tony made a rather humorous gasping noise, but Steve filed the information away for later. He was too furious to laugh right now.

"You know what, Stark?" He began angrily. "You think you're so witty and clever and perfect, but you forget the rest of us can see your flaws as clear as crystal, just like you see ours. Except most of the team has the decency not to embarrassingly point them all out, like you do." He paused. "So I think it's time _someone _does, and as Miss Potts was obviously too afraid of you to start anything big, and Ana is not present, this responsibility is falling to me. But she's going to thank me later."

"You are a self-righteous, narcissistic jerk who attempts to surround himself with weak-willed people that will bend to his every whim," Steve insulted, his voice low. Clint, though he heard every word, cleverly kept quiet in the cockpit. "You bury every true feeling that you deign to feel deep inside yourself, so no one knows who you really are, and therefore no one can help you. But I can see past that, because you know what you are on the inside? You're exactly like I was… _before _the serum. Except you're like that on the inside." Tony opened his mouth, obviously to retort, but Steve shook his head. "I'm not finished."

"I-"

"No," Steve cut off again. "You pretend to have no heart, because you're afraid of getting hurt. And you know what? After only knowing you for a few weeks, I already can't believe that Anastasia could ever possibly love you." At Tony's hurt look, Steve almost regretted his words. But he couldn't, because he was pretty sure that they needed to be said. "Go ahead and dig into me," the solider allowed, backing away from the CEO of Stark Industries.

Anger and hurt was pouring from Tony's every pore, and he opened his equally angry mouth. However, nothing came out.

"You're right," he realized suddenly. Steve stared at him in astonishment. "I'm an asshole."

To Tony's surprise, the super solider let out the first genuine smile that he had ever made in the billionaire's presence. "I think you just proved me wrong, Stark."

Tony reached for his bag of blueberries, popping one in his mouth. He looked up at the blonde, smirking. "Let's make it the first of many times, shall we Cap?" He held out the bag as an offering, wanting to laugh when Steve questioned whether the blueberries were just… well, _blueberries. _

"I don't dip them in cocaine, if that's what you're asking," Tony replied. Steve hesitantly took one. "You know," the billionaire added conversationally, "I'm glad you're coming around, Rodgers. After all, we're all going to be sleeping in the same place-" Mid-sentence, Tony glanced at the blonde. The shocked expression on his face caused Tony to instantaneously stop talking. "What?"

Steve muttered a word, and Tony wasn't exactly sure if he heard it right, but it sounded sort of like 'risqué'. The brunette repeated his query, only to have Steve smile the biggest and most ridiculous smile he had ever seen. "That's it," the captain announced simply.

Tony leaned to the side, attempting to meet the man's eyes. "Umm, Steve? _What_ is?"

Steve said nothing, calling Natasha at the same time he grabbed a bottle of vodka from a nearby table –it was Tony's plane, so there was always alcohol around- and tossed it at Tony, who nimbly caught it.

"Drink up," he ordered, in pure Captain America mode as the dial tone sounded. "You're going to need it."

After a hurried conversation with Natasha about where she and Banner were supposed to be, Steve hung up. He turned to a confused and slightly irritated Tony, opening his mouth to detail the plan.

Unfortunately, a slight bump underneath them alerted everyone to the fact that they had just landed. Clint's voice as he swung his quiver onto his shoulder clarified that they were across the street from their destination.

Steve looked at Tony, then at church that was just visible from the opening loading zone, trying to make a decision. Did he inform Tony, risking being late, or hope Tony's genius brain would make the connection and not screw everything up?

A flash of red that appeared through a cracked door, frantically beckoning to the three of them, made up his mind. "Stark," he ordered, grabbing the billionaire's hand and dragging him across the street, "you're going to have to swallow your pride, act drunk, and play along."

Tony's reply went unheard.

AAA

Ana swallowed hard, taking dramatically slow steps down the aisle. Bruce Banner walked next to her, her hand tucked in the crook of his arm, taking his steps even more slowly. She tightened her hand around his elbow, thinking ironically about how she felt so safe and protected by this man, who turned into a huge, green, rage monster, compared to her own family and fiancé. She was glad that she had somehow convinced her father that it was Midgardian tradition to have a friend walk the bride down the aisle, not the father.

They eventually reached the alter, where Bruce bent down and placed a prolonged kiss on her cheek, covering up his whispered words:

"Stay strong. Tony is coming."

Ana breathed in, feeling Bruce reluctantly release her arm and move back. Gwindor grabbed her elbow none to gently, eagerly smiling at her. She attempted to return it – after all, the elf had never really directly done anything wrong- but she was pretty sure it came out as more of a grimace.

She closed her eyes when they turned to face the elven priest, thinking only of Tony. Willing him to come and save her. "And," the priest began slowly, "if anyone objects to this marriage, let him speak now or-"

Suddenly, the doors to the chapel burst open, revealing three familiar men, a determined Steve in the lead pulling a drunk-looking Tony behind him. The words he called out shocked the majority of the audience, but Ana could only sigh in relief.

"I object!"

AAA

_Well… This isn't going to be pretty… I promise I don't mean to keep leaving you guys with cliffhangers! I promise!_

_If you're wondering what Steve's plan could possibly be, I'd review the last few chapters. You might get a couple of hints.._

_Thanks so much for all the great reviews!_


	20. Awkward Relationships

**Born To Die**

**Awkward Relationships**

"I object!"

Captain America watched as every head in the room spun to stare at him in astonishment. "I mean," he added quickly, pulling Tony forward by the hand, "_we_ object."

Steve was pretty sure it clicked for both Ana and Tony at the same time.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tony's face turn slightly red, and his lips pressed tightly together. Steve pleaded to God, to any god, that Tony's huge ego wouldn't give his whole scheme away. Tony squeezed the hand that had pulled him into the church softly, and Steve let out a long sigh of relief.

Tony's hardened gaze fell on the brunette woman standing about twenty feet from him, eyes narrowed. His hands suddenly itched to grab her, to kiss her – there was a small percentage of him that sort of wanted to punch her- but mostly just to get his hands on her, to keep her for himself. He was completely and utterly irate, hiding under the part of him that was terrified that she was going to leave him again. He would have to make that clear to her, if –_when- _they got out of this. He couldn't deal with her leaving him again.

Ana's eyes flashed in surprise, but she covered the break in her façade quickly. The actress that she had to be as a spy took over immediately, and Ana gave Steve a loving smile. Steve ignored the skipped beat of his heart, reminding himself harshly that she was simply acting.

"Steve! What are you doing here?" She called, her voice at least one octave higher, but her eyes kept flickering to Tony. Natasha stepped forward from her spot as a bridesmaid and slipped between Ana and Gwindor, trying to lessen the obvious rage in Tony's chocolate brown eyes. It didn't really change anything.

"We're here for you, Ana darling," he replied, careful not to use any of Tony's pet names for the ex-assassin. Tony seemed to finally –at least outwardly- relax.

"Ana…" he trailed off quietly, that one word having so much more meaning than any 'darling' he could say. Their eyes met, and though Tony was wary and Ana was scared, everything melted away for a moment. Tony turned so that his palms faced upwards, and Ana smiled gently. She made to move to her team, when her father stood.

"What is this?" He boomed. Both Tony and Steve watched Ana flinch violently. "Have you no decorum?"

Tony snapped. "That's my-" he paused slightly, his anger words hanging emptily in the air. He reluctantly carried on with Steve's plan- "_our_ girlfriend up there, buddy," he shouted. "_Have you no sight?"_

"How dare you speak so to the king of Alfheim?" Freyr retorted, getting to his feet, as did most of the male and some female elves.

Tony began to stalk forward, drunk act forgotten, when Steve pulled him back. "We're not here to start a war, Stark," he hissed. "Stick with the plan."

Tony shook his head. "You mean the plan where you, me, and her start a threesome?" he retorted in a whisper. "How is that a good plan? Sounds like a good plan for you, of course, because my girlfriend is beyond hot, but I don't like to share."

"Haven't you gotten it yet? Elves like this kind of stuff!" Steve whispered even louder, aware of the curious stares they were getting. "Ana told me a long time ago…"

"You want us to be the better prospect, regardless of being mortal," Tony realized all of the sudden.

"Yeah."

"Good plan."

Steve rolled his eyes.

Tony cleared his throat, and faking a dramatic stagger forward, he approached the king. The surrounding Avengers –especially Natasha, who had worked for him- recognized the look on his face as the look he had to put on for customers he hated but had to placate, but to everyone else, he just seemed contrite. "I apologize – uh, Lord Freyr, right?" He slurred slightly. The elf nodded hesitantly. "I just miss An – Adramela so much; she has been such an anchor for Steve and I. We really love her… beyond anything else." Here, he almost fell over, but Clint grabbed his arm, holding him up. The billionaire gave him a thankful look. Steve nodded emphatically. "We just want her to come back to the team." However, he said this clearly but quietly, with no hint of his faked, earlier slur.

Freyr looked at them curiously. "You both are with my daughter?" They nodded. The king turned to Ana, grasping her by the arm and yanking her forward. She winced, and Tony clenched his fist so hard that his knuckles turned white. "The one on the right is well-developed and fair," he observed. "The other one is decent, albeit a little too dark and scrawny."

Steve elbowed Tony in the chest to keep him from retorting.

Freyr released Ana, nudging her forward. "Go to them," he ordered. She nodded in relief, stumbling forward. Natasha and Bruce appeared at her left and right respectively, releasing her in front of Tony and Steve and moving to stand behind them. Clint joined them, his bow held loosely in front of him but still visible, as a slight warning. Steve wrapped a tight, protective arm around Ana, but Tony hung back.

Conscious of Freyr's hard gaze pinning them where they stood, and the fact that this could be the only chance he would ever get, Steve reached down and kissed Ana softly on the lips.

The brunette made a small squeaking noise, but obligingly kissed him back…

… until a familiar hand touched the small of her back, expertly spinning her to face an equally familiar dark-eyed gaze. But she didn't really have much time to look at Tony's face, because instantly his mouth came down on hers. Her fingers curled tightly into his white button-down shirt, his hands diving into her chocolate curls and tangling themselves there, not willing to ever let go. The kiss wasn't gentle, wasn't sweet, but neither of them really cared. Tony was completely wrapped up in Ana, but the assassin had the presence of mind to let him back her into Steve, prompting the super solider to rest his smooth hands on her hips. Ana smiled into the kiss; if they didn't look like they were in a three-way relationship now, she didn't know what did.

Ana sighed with relief when Tony pulled back just far enough to allow them both to take a few breaths. Three heads turned to face the Elven King, holding their breaths.

All it took was one shake of the head of Freyr, and Bruce was already a vibrant shade of green.

The Hulk roared, pounding his fists, and stampeded forward. Tony and Steve attempted to hold Ana back, but she lunged after Bruce, hands already aflame. The sleeves of the dress were seared, but only the disappointed maids in the back took any notice. Natasha slunk to the back, smartly staying out of the Hulk's vision.

"No!" She screamed, and the Hulk stopped, turning and grunting at her. Was she speaking to him? "Don't, hurt him, Father," she pleaded. The rest of the Avengers gave her curious looks. Hurt the Hulk?

Ana's mother noticed their confusion, smiling grimly. "My husband is much stronger than you could ever possibly imagine. To challenge him would be an ill deed."

Tony smirked. "Challenging the Avengers wouldn't be such an amazing idea, either. As you can see, _we _have a Hulk."

Freyr ignored the billionaire, eyes trained his daughter. "You have gone soft, Adramela."

Ana's gaze was hard. "It's Anastasia. And actually, I have begun to care, no thanks to you, Father." She turned to her mother. "Do you know? Have you seen what he's done to me?" She questioned desperately, pulling down her collar and rubbing off the concealer. The elves began to murmur; whathad prompted their usually benevolent king to hurt his own daughter? The queen gasped in horror, running for her daughter. The Hulk pounded forward, lifting the king up and holding him high in the air. Ana stared dispassionately at her mother, who had never really cared for her a day in her life. "Sorry, mother," she said, backing away. "I guess I really was always born to die."

The beautiful elf seemed about to reply, but staring at the mortals standing behind her daughter, she paused. Things would have to change in Alfheim, after they rebuilt. It was obvious that Ana was happy, and the queen supposed that if she could do anything for her daughter, she could let her go. She held out her arms hopefully, wondering if her daughter would deign embrace her. Ana simply shook her head, and her arms dropped. "You look beautiful, Ad- Anastasia," she corrected. "Would that you loved me."

Ana turned back to the friends- no, family, behind her, running her gaze over every one until she met Natasha's eyes. She gave the assassin a smirk before speaking again to her mother. "Love is for children."

Her mother turned away with a sad smile, quickly gathering the elves together. Her fiancé stared at her until he was herded into the middle of the group, only kept from speaking by the growling noises of coming from the Hulk, not to mention from Tony.

Finally, Ana's mother approached the green creature, lifting a hand. "I would like my husband returned, if you please." The Hulk tilted his head curiously, staring at the first person who had ever spoken to him like a person. An understanding seemed to pass between them, and after one, final, good tossing, he placed the king on the floor in front of his wife, who gazed at him with disgust. She kneeled putting a hand over his heart, closing her eyes.

The other Avengers had gathered around Ana, excepting Tony, who still stood near the door. Clint leaned forward. "What's she doing?" He whispered to Ana, whose eyes were trained on the light coming from her father's chest.

"Taking his power," she explained. "In dire circumstances, where the king is injured or has become corrupt, it is possible for a member of the immediate royal family to take his power. Then she will take him to Asgard, where the All-father will pass final judgment."

Steve rubbed her back soothingly. "Thor will make sure he doesn't come near you ever again."

They didn't even notice the company of elves disappearing. Ana took a deep breath, turning to face her team. "I wasn't worried about myself," she admitted reluctantly. "I can't be selfish anymore. I was worried about… about all of you." She looked around, meeting almost everyone's eyes. "I realize I have not been honest about so many things, but I hope you can forgive me." There were scattered murmurs of assent.

Spurred on by her collegue's monologue, Natasha slowly turned to the Hulk, chuckling nervously. She raised a trembling hand, forcing herself to face her fear of her teammate, realizing that it was becoming irrational. She wanted to be –dare she admit- _friends _with these people. She knew she had come to an understanding with Bruce, but she knew that in order to be fully accepted by the scientist, the Hulk and she had to be friends also. "I made peace with your other half, and I was hoping you'd accept me too," she said simply, holding out a hand.

Ana came up beside her, and looked equally pleadingly at the Hulk. "I've lied to you too, and I want to start over." She paused, and her hand joined Natasha's in the air. "Hi, my name is Ana."

"Natasha Romanoff," Natasha added, facing a strange deja-vu moment as she remembered meeting the Hulk for the first time.

The Hulk looked at them curiously, but raised a finger, extraordinarily mindful of their size. They both grabbed onto his hand, and for the onlookers, it was a bizarrely touching moment. "Hulk," he replied, pulling his finger away and pounding his chest, and both Ana and Tasha smiled.

The silence was broken by a high-pitched, obviously faked laugh echoed from behind them. They all turned to see a slightly delirious-looking Tony Stark, who had eyes only for the ex-princess. "That's just grand," he sneered. "I'm glad Bruce took you up on that offer, because I don't think you're ever getting any trust from me again, sweetheart." Ignoring Ana's pleading tries to get his attention, he stormed out of the church.

She took one longing look at the team around her, and spurred on by their encouraging expressions, she chased after the one man that had ever gotten under her skin.

AAA

_Muahaha. I'm evil._

_Sorry this chapter took so long! I had so much trouble with it; I still don't think I took it to the level I could've…_

_Anyways, review!_


	21. Part of Me

_I'm sort of sad, guys! It's almost the end. I think I'm going to cry._

**Born To Die**

**Part of Me**

"_This is the part of me that you're never gonna ever take away from me."_

_Katy Perry_

Tony Stark ignored the desperate pleas of the brunette sprinting after him.

Well, he ignored her until she made that action impossible. Which she did by literally tackling him to the ground. He rolled away, pushing her off of him none too gently. Trying to avoid her hurt eyes, they both stumbled to their feet, Tony attempting to get as far away from her as possible.

She had hurt him. Was this what all the blonde bimbos had felt when they woke up to realize he didn't give a shit about them? Ana had left him involuntarily and voluntarily, lied to him and cheated on him. There was a huge, gaping hole in his heart, and while he knew he could never live without her, he couldn't be with her anymore. He had thought he could fix her, and by that, fix himself, but now he wasn't so sure.

He felt strong hands grasp his shoulders tightly, and he angrily tried to escape, but the way she was holding him made it almost impossible for him to move without the help of his suit.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Are you seriously using one of your master assassin super-secret moves on me?" He turned to the stunned group of Avengers standing about thirty feet away. "Guys, help! I feel threatened!" No one moved, not even the Hulk, who was actually watching the exchange with curiosity.

"Why are you leaving? We won, we're good, can't we just-" Ana trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"Don't you understand? You left me, twice!" He spat, struggling harder, but she still wouldn't let go. Ana crushed his warm body to hers, trying to keep him with her.

"Well, I'm sorry for caring for my team!" She retorted

"I'm sorry for ever thinking you'd actually stay with me! Actually, you know what? Good thing I got rid of you; you're just a bitchy ex-assassin that needs psychiatric help," Tony sneered.

Ana instantly let go of the billionaire, backing away as if she had been burned. Tony had always been the one who built her up, stood up for her. She saw Steve defiantly open his mouth out of the corner of her eye, but Clint clapped a hand over his captain's mouth before he could say a word. She turned back the man in front of her, wondering if this was really the man who held her tightly on the beach. It couldn't possibly be the same man she made love to, who had stubbornly demanded her attention even when Captain America had stood over her protectively. Her Tony had dealt with every blow directed toward him, even the time bomb of the team and her own inner problems, which pretty much added up to the equivalent of a nuclear war. This Tony… This Tony was giving up.

Some part of her deep inside told her that she was watching him finally accept the terrible truth about her, but now the horrible, derisive words were bubbling up inside her, and she was no longer able to hold back her opinion about him.

"Yeah? Well, you're a egocentric, gauche bastard that couldn't see past the whores in his bed and realize that his partner was killing billions of people with his own stupid weapons!" She smiled slightly at Tony's stunned look, getting an immense amount of pleasure from being able to hurt him like he hurt her. She vaguely saw the shape of Natasha shrugging at the honesty of her words, and her lips split even further.

But Tony wasn't the king of wit for nothing. "So did you come up with that all by yourself or read the tabloids from two years ago on the plane ride here?"

"No," she spat, "I read them the night before you took me out to lunch the first time, to remind myself to never fall for your sleazy tricks!"

"What about you, Miss I-killed-people-for-a-living-for-twenty-years-and-try-to-ignore-it? How many men have you batted your eyelashes at in order to take them into the next room and choke them, huh? How many?" Ana flinched. She hated to be reminded of that time period… She had been so weak.

Tony smirked, and Ana snapped defensively, "Don't you dare presume to know me, Anthony Stark! You know, I think-"

"Hold on," he interrupted. "Let me turn on the part of my brain that cares about what you think - oh wait, it doesn't exist."

"I think you're just like your father."

Tony eyes flashed a dark hue – later Clint would claim that, for a split second, they were a brilliant red, but no one ever listens to Clint – and his features were so livid that Ana immediately regretted her words. Her statement had been so low: too low. "Stark, I-"

He interrupted her, stalking toward her and backing her into the wall of the church. "I _hate_ you," he hissed before bending down and brutally taking her lips with his. She arched into his touch, her five-two frame curling into his taller one. He grasped her hips, probably bruising her, forcing her against the flat surface even harder. The back of her head fell onto the wall, a sharp pain echoing though her skull.

Steve turned to the two master assassins beside him. "Should we…" he began, trailing off awkwardly and gesturing toward the couple.

Natasha shook her head, watching the two with careful eyes. "Only if it gets violent. Otherwise, they need this. They'll never get back together unless they get honest with each other, and to tell the truth? The Avengers Team, not to mention SHIELD, needs both of them."

Clint agreed. "Yeah, but just in case… Hulk? You ready to get in there if Ana starts swiping at the moron with fiery fists, buddy?" He paused. "Not going to lie; I'm pretty proud of the alliteration in that sentence."

"Not your 'buddy'," the Hulk grumbled in response, but the green giant still watched Ana and Tony carefully with surprisingly intelligent green eyes. He really liked the Iron man, and to be honest, Fire Girl –Ana, he corrected; he had just learned her name- was pretty intimidating.

Steve gave Clint an odd look. "Alliteration? You mean that thing in poetry?" He questioned dubiously.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Agent Barton recently sat in on an English class at Oxford during a reconnaissance mission. He's _very _proud of the knowledge he gained… in that Freshman English class…" She trailed off sarcastically.

Clint huffed. "No judgment, Nat," he said, acting truly wounded. "Hey, want me to tell them about the time you took that ballet class, just for 'gathering intel about the subject'? That's what was in your report, right?"

"Shut up."

Steve stared in wonder at the two assassins before him. Funny, he used to think all they did and thought about was killing.

Ana broke away from Tony, spinning and pinning him to the wall instead. The four other Avengers turned back to watch the soap opera that was playing out in front of them. "If you hate me so much, then why the hell did you kiss me?" The brunette demanded. Clint shrugged; it was a valid point.

Tony froze for a minute. Then, the words tore out of his mouth. "You're just another pretty face. That's all." His eyes flickered back down to her to her lips, but Ana had already backed away in shock.

"That's all?" she repeated in disbelief, her voice barely above a whisper. "You know, that's what the Russians thought, and probably what SHIELD and my family thinks, but I sure as hell didn't expect that from you, Stark," she said, her voice rising with every word. "Did you ever care at all?"

Tony narrowed his eyes, shaking in head in disappointment. He could feel his hands trembling. "I loved you, Ana. I loved you so much, but it wasn't worth it!" He yelled.

Ana's mouth dropped open in shock. "You're a bastard!" She shouted.

Tony laughed. "And why is that?" He sneered. Ana retaliated immediately, unable to stop the words from tumbling from her mouth.

"_Because I love you_!"

She regretted the words as soon as she spoke them, clapping a hand over her mouth when the _weak _phrase escaped her lips. Five heads spun to stare at her, all in varying stages of astonishment. She began to back away quickly, stopped only by the expression on Tony's face. He was obviously shocked, more shocked than the others. Ana was horrified, and the billionaire's astonishment faded into slight smugness.

Tony wanted to hear those words again. He wanted to hear those words over and over and over again. He stepped toward her, ignoring her instinctive step back. He was still in a high stage of disbelief. "Stop the _fucking_ presses and run that by me again. _You what_?"

Ana rolled her eyes, taking an angry step forward. "Oh, fuck you!" she yelled, still not meeting his eyes. She couldn't believe she had told him that she loved him. But it, unfortunately, was the truth.

The billionaire's eyes lit up mischievously at her answer. "You already did," Tony shot back, completely and utterly self-satisfied.

Ana's head jerked up, and the second her eyes met Tony's, they both burst into hysterical laughter. Soon, Tony fell to his knees from the lack of air, and Anastasia stumbled over. Natasha, Clint, and Steve looked absolutely shocked at the sudden mood change, but the Hulk just pounded his fists happily.

"I love you," Ana repeated, her voice no longer a shout, but a firmly happy tone. She fell to the ground next to her Tony, and he wrapped her tightly in his arms telling her that he loved her over and over again. The laughs turned to sobs, and whispered promises of never, _ever _leaving again.

"You're part of me," Tony breathed. "This team - shoot me now for admitting this –is part of me now. And I'll raise hell if either of you are taken from me."

Ana smiled. "You'll never have nothing again if I have anything to do with it."

The Hulk bounded up to them, lifting them both separately into the air with each hand before squashing them together once more. "Ana and Iron Man kiss," he demanded, pressing their bodies together even more tightly. Tony wormed his arms around Ana carefully.

"I was about to say the same exact thing, Big Guy," Tony replied, before capturing Ana's lips in his.

They ignored Clint's catcalls, and Natasha's groan. They ignored the honking cars, the terrified screams of the general populace as their eyes caught on the giant, green, rage monster. It felt like a huge cocoon surrounded them, and they were completely impervious to the rest of the world.

And that was exactly how it was supposed to be.

AAA

It was a thirty-minute cab ride to Tony's Malibu house. They joked around on the ride there, Ana laid out on top of Tony, Steve, and Clint, with a passed out Bruce in the truck and a _smiling_ Natasha riding shotgun. The cabbie didn't say a word, and Tony gave him a huge tip upon their arrival.

No one said a word as they went inside, seeing six bags lined out neatly on the kitchen table. Ana gave Tony a curious look, but he avoided her gaze, settling for wrapping an arm around her shoulder and grabbing their bags in his other hand.

They spent all of ten minutes in Malibu.

When they reached the garage, Tony tossed the keys to his bright yellow Lamborghini to Natasha. "This is going to sound so ironic, but you're the only one I can trust with this car," he explained. Natasha rolled her eyes, catching the keys and squeezing the billionaire's shoulder in a very Un-Black-Widow-Like move. Tony flinched slightly, before relaxing and giving her a quick, genuine smile. It was the first she had ever gotten. "Rev it up, Red," he ordered as she slid into the front seat. Bruce and Steve immediately joined her.

Ana and Clint had already fought over shotgun in the red Ferrari convertible adjacent to the yellow car, Ana winning when she literally flipped over the archer, using his shoulders as anchors, and into the seat perfectly.

"Ever think of gymnastics instead of being a master assassin?" He grumbled.

She pretended to ponder this, before smiling back at the grumpy Hawkeye in the backseat. "Nah," she replied with a smirk. "I like being the best at what I do."

Clint was about to retort defensively, when Tony entered the car. "Okay, guys, road trip!"

They sped off, Natasha following Tony closely.

"What's the plan?" Ana asked her billionaire.

"We're going on vacation," Tony replied softly, covering her hand with his. "We're picking up Thor and Jane, and we're going on a _long, _SHIELD-is-paying-for-everything, vacation."

The Lamborghini and the Ferrari sped next to each other down the two-lane highway. All the surrounding cars pulled off or sped up when they saw them. And Steve was pretty sure they were making the general populace pretty furious, because Tony and Natasha started a game of 'Who Can Make Their Music Louder And Sing Along'. Natasha was blasting _Remember the Name _and Ana turned up _Payphone_ so loud the speakers were literally shaking.

Clint was the loudest in the red car, but surprising, Bruce ran away with the award for best singer in the yellow car.

Tony turned to Ana, raising a playful eyebrow, as if to say '_Who'd have thought?'_

AAA

Jane Foster hung back, watching the six Avengers make their way into the private jet. She observed them closely, trying to gather some sort of information on the people that Thor had called 'family'.

The one that immediately caught her eye was the serious redheaded assassin, a clouded yet extremely sharp look in her bright green eyes. She walked with a purpose, not touching anyone, yet a wired man had his hand on her arm, and they were having a whispered conversation.

The archer, as she knew him, was stocky but strong, with a congenial smile pasted on his face when he greeted her for the first time. She knew that he hid sharp eyes beneath his ray-bands, always on the lookout for danger.

Thor was regaling the seemingly shy scientist with a tale of his latest battle. The scientist walked with a slight slump, though he seemed more social than Thor had originally described him. Jane smiled; the Avengers team must be doing something for him. His hands were deep inside his pockets, but Jane could tell he was fiddling with something. As a scientist herself, she knew how that was. He was the first Avenger she could see herself being friends with.

The super soldier walked alone, deep in thought. He was tall, Jane observed, and well muscled. All in the entire perfect male specimen. He was shooting long looks at the beautiful, yet extremely quiet brunette, who –like the redhead- had said nothing to Jane when Thor introduced her. She had only pierced the astrophysicist with a knowing stare, before turning to speak to the redhead. Jane wondered why the assassin didn't return the soldier's affections.

And that was when her eyes drifted to the couple.

Because they were so obviously that. A couple. The brunette walked alone from the car, but the billionaire quickly caught up to her, slinging a suit jacket-clad arm around her strong shoulders. Jane was certain that she would push him off; the assassin didn't really seem like one for affection. But she was wrong.

The brunette gazed up at the man next to her with a fond smile. There was a sudden change of connection, and suddenly their arms were linked tightly together and the man had his free hand on hers, a sort of staying motion. He was whispering conspiratorially to her, an encouraging half smile on his face. She tilted her head back, letting out a bubbling laugh. Jane nearly jumped at the noise. Then she noticed the brunette call out to the super soldier, who shot a witty comment right back at her. And suddenly, the entire Avengers team was laughing, including the three master assassins.

But now Jane understood.

How could she have thought that the soldier and the assassin would fit well together? After her recent experience with love, how could she possibly still think it was the conventional relationships that lasted? No, it was the ones you struggled for, the ones that weren't perfect, even though the person you were with was your soul mate. Jane knew that feeling, and suddenly she was connected to these people. There were no more descriptions in her thoughts, only names.

_Natasha. Clint. Thor. Bruce. Steve. Anastasia. Anthony._

_Anastasia. Anthony._

_Ana. Tony._

Jane now had the urge to slap herself. She was starting to sound like a fan-girl.

_Natasha _turned to _Bruce, _and they talked and laughed, entering the plane as one.

_Thor_ ran up the walkway, shouting questions to _Bruce _about how this and that worked. Jane rolled her eyes fondly; her boyfriend was such a handful.

_Steve _dropped a long kiss on _Ana's _cheek, patting her gently on the shoulder, and Jane had this sudden feeling in the pit of her stomach. That was important, but she didn't know why. _Steve _then entered the plane, his questions drowning out _Thor's._

_Tony_ turned to his girlfriend, his avenger, his _Ana. _In the eyes of none but Jane –she didn't believe in God after Thor; who could? – _Tony _leaned in, kissing _Ana _hard on the lips. On the outside, it was a harsh embrace, his hands twisting her hair and her nails scratching through his t-shirt, but Jane could see further.

It was beautiful, it was gentle, and it made Jane's eyes prickle with happy tears. She wanted it to be like this with Thor, she wanted this love, this trust. _Tony _never wanted to let _Ana _go. And Jane suddenly wanted in on this, wanted to keep them together. Finally, they broke apart, and in an innocent gesture that completely contradicted their earlier embrace, _Tony _reached down and took _Ana's _hand. She gave him a smile that was not only happy, but also so full of emotions that Jane could not even begin to understand. They walked up the incline together. Jane knew that their struggle was over, and oh god, they had struggled.

_Thor_ called her name, requesting her to join him in this 'flying bird'.

She watched _Ana _and _Tony _disappear, completely content with the other, and closer than Jane thought she could possibly imagine.

Ana turned back, her eyes catching those of the astrophysicist. Before Tony turned her back so he could kiss her softly on the temple, the ex-princess shot the other brunette a wry smile.

Jane could also not possibly imagine how long it took them to get there.

AAA

_So, almost the end! Only the epilogue left, I think._

_Let me know what you think! I am decently content with this chapter, I think!  
_

_Thanks for all the reviews, you guys!_


	22. Epilogue

_**Author's Note: **__So this is it, you guys! I hope everyone enjoyed!_

_I'd especially like to thank: __**Sam0728, booklover1498, BlooperLover, Telekenetic in the usa, daphii, OhBeClever, Darkest Women, Pinkie-the-Butt-Hurter, little-miss-randomness, Stargazer1364, Fayre Amore, Eveilyn14, Lovergirl24, 666AnimeFan666, FireFly1939, Miko Hayashi, SakuraPheonix13, and colormenikki!**_

_I'm so sorry if I missed anyone; I tried to get everyone who reviewed at least twice! I really wish I had the time and presence of mind to reply to every single one of you, because you guys are amazing, but just know I love you so much and hope you enjoy the ending!_

_By the way, did anyone catch the Charlie Bartlett reference in the last chapter? I was just curious…_

**Born to Die**

**Epilogue**

_One year later…_

Anastasia Woods gasped in shock as the Black Widow went down, knocked out by a stray bullet. Her gaze hardened immediately, and with one huge burst of flame, the men around them were scorched to death. The bombs were rigged; they needed to get to the plane.

She ran over to Natasha. "Hold on," she whispered to her friend, lifting the assassin and slinging her over her shoulders. She heard a faint boom in the distance; rolling her eyes, she ran faster. The bombs had begun to go off.

Natasha was trembling from her position on Ana's shoulders, and was bruised and bleeding profusely from her leg. "Stay awake, Tash," Ana groaned in pain; her body was not meant to hold up this weight and run while exhausted, and she was definitely feeling it. "You have to stay awake."

The plane was in view; it was so close she could see the lights blinking on the wings. She sighed in relief, her home of a long time ago blowing to pieces behind her. She couldn't wait to get home: to see Tony, Steve, Bruce, and the others. Especially Tony. This mission had taken a lot out of both her and Natasha.

And then, with escape nearly clutched in her fingertips, the plane blew up. Stupid Academy.

She looked around for other options, Nat groaning from her shoulders. A Russian helicopter stood about ten feet away. Ana had never flown a helicopter before, but she was smart enough; she could do this!

Time for Plan B.

AAA

The only sound at Stark Tower was the clinking of forks.

It had become somewhat of a tradition, when one or two of the Avengers were on a mission and the others were left at home. Especially when it came to the three couples in the Avengers, and the assorted "significant others" would either lock themselves in their labs, offices, or gyms, depending on who they were. But they would always eat dinner together, all silently praying for the return of their family.

Jane and Phil had left by now, Jane only staying when it was Thor and Phil only staying when it was Barton. The archer and his handler had gotten together a few years ago, and Natasha had reluctantly related it to the others once everyone started asking questions.

Tony and Anastasia had all in all forced everyone to move into the tower after the vacation, the ostensible reason being that all the Avengers should find their places in the world before moving out. However, even after Steve joined Ana in an extremely flexible Art School and Natasha had resumed her "position" as Tony's freelance assistant, no one left. Everyone stayed, and no one protested when Jane had moved in with Thor, eagerly making the "Science Bros" of Tony and Bruce a trio. When Fury had admitted Coulson was alive, Barton went MIA for a few days and Natasha told everyone that they were together. Coulson was then immediately accepted into the Tower, and when Tony, Natasha, and Clint had gone into SHIELD's base with guns blazing, Fury had reluctantly, but quickly, turned the agent over. A few days later, Phil had convinced Bruce and Natasha to come out with their relationship.

However, it was very rare that everyone was in the tower at once. Except Movie Night, and except when various Avengers were sent on a mission, absolutely everyone made sure to show up. Yet usually, the missions only lasted a few days at most.

That all changed six months ago.

Natasha and Ana had been called in to go deep undercover and infiltrate The Academy, killing the leaders and blowing up the main base. Tony and Bruce had both refused initially, claiming that it was too dangerous and psychologically damaging for both women to go. Natasha had stared down her lover, and though Bruce's skin had turned a tiny bit green, he had consented. Tony was a bit harder to placate.

He had stormed off, and Ana had gone after him. They had come back two hours later, and Tony had agreed to the mission. No matter what the other Avengers did and how much they snooped, they could not find out what was said.

And so here they were: the archer, the green rage monster, the billionaire genius, the super solider, and the demi-god, eating pancakes for dinner and attempting to fill the emptiness left by their two female counter-parts with idle chatter.

"This was supposed to be a five-month mission," Clint began, voicing everyone else's thoughts. "What the hell is taking them so long?"

"They have the best tech in the world," Tony replied arrogantly, but he couldn't mask the worry in his voice. "They can't mess up."

Thor stood promptly. "Lady Natasha and Lady Anastasia have great power, and they will always stand tall. One time, when I was in Asgard, we were battling the mighty-"

There was a chorus of 'Not now, Thor', and the god sat down, disappointed.

"If Natasha doesn't come back," Bruce warned quietly, "I'm not going to stop the Other Guy from kicking Fury's ass."

Putting a hand on his fellow genius' shoulder, Tony smirked. "I'll bring the popcorn."

Steve smiled grimly. "I'll bring the Pepsi."

"Can you make that a Coke?"

With their banter going strong, not one of the men had thought to check the door. There stood Ana, smiling softly, with a shaking Natasha curled against her. The former's knees were in the process of buckling.

Steve, the first to react, lunged forward and locked each of his strong arms around each girl, lifting them against his chest. "Water," he commanded looking at Clint. The archer was up immediately, sprinting for the kitchen and shouting JARVIS' name as he went. Thor was up next, running for bandages and blankets, knowing Bruce wasn't going to be in his right mind.

Steve walked over to Bruce, setting the Black Widow down softly in his lap. The scientist immediately curled his arms around the assassin, only taking the time to grab the blanket Thor had held out before murmuring comforting words to his girlfriend. When the god bent down to wrap her leg, Bruce shot him a possessive glare, and he backed off. When Clint came back in, he put down the water and took the bandages, wrapping Natasha's leg himself. The Black Widow was his best friend, and fuck it if he was going to let a glare keep him from helping her.

Natasha whimpered softly. "We did it. It's over," she whispered, and Bruce stroked her now-long red hair softly.

"I know Tasha," he smiled, holding her closer. "I love you."

Steve hugged Ana tightly. "I'm glad you're safe," he told her. Sometimes it was depressing to think of himself as the only Avenger with no one to really share his life with, but little did he know, a certain astrophysicist's ex-assistant was visiting her best friend in a few days…

Ana embraced him back, before pulling away and turning to look at Tony. His dark eyes were focused on her, and Steve backed away. She took a hesitant step forward. "Tony, I-"

"Marry me."

_Flashback_

"_Tony, wait up!"_

_Ana chased her boyfriend into his lab, pausing at the sight of the hunched over body leaning on a desk. She slowed, staying near the door. It was a bad time for Fury to give a mission; after six hard months, things were finally starting to look up. The Avengers family was sticking together, and Tony and Ana's relationship was going strong. This mission might break it. "Tony, I-"_

"_Don't go," he interrupted lowly. "Ana, Bruce and I can talk Fury out of it." He walked toward her with a few steps, his eyes bright with something she didn't want to call tears. "It's too dangerous, for both you and Tash. And I want both of my girls to be safe." A few months ago, when Pepper had taken up the Malibu side of the Industries and Tony had been left to handle the International part, Natasha and he had begun to resemble brother and sister. She had taken back her assistant position when she wasn't on a mission, so Ana and Natasha had swiftly become 'his girls'. _

_Ana wrapped her arms tightly around her midriff in an uncharacteristic show of uncertainty. She walked away, turning to face the wall in a desperate move to avoid her lover's pleading eyes. "Both Natasha and I know we need to do this. Our childhoods, especially hers, were dominated by this power, this torture. We need closure."_

"_You get closure here, right?" He asked her. "Don't I give you closure? Why do you have to go to Soviet Russia?" He added in a thick, obviously fake Russian accent. She laughed lightly. "See? I can even make you laugh!"_

"_Tony," she sighed, turning around and joining him in the middle of the room. She let him wrap his arms around her. She rested her cheek on the arc reactor, smiling against his chest when a strong hand came up to stroke her chocolate-colored hair. "I have to do this."_

_The billionaire let out a long breath. "On one condition."_

_Ana backed away eying him nervously for a minute, before bursting into laughter. "What?" She wondered aloud through her giggles. "You want more shawarma? Because I can put it on Steve's shopping list…"_

"_Marry me."_

_Ana felt like she was in a cartoon, and the moment Tony spoke those two frankly very frightening words, a screeching noise had just brought everything to a sudden halt. Ana's whole world had come to a screeching halt. Slowly, she began to chuckle, shutting her eyes tightly. "That's.. that's funny, Tony. How spur of the moment was that joke?"_

"_Not very spur at all," an amused voice said from the floor, and Ana's eyes shot open to see a kneeling Tony with a huge diamond ring in the palm of his hand. The outside circle of diamonds was sparkling, and the centerpiece was a huge triangular gem that made the ring resemble a tiny arc reactor. The assassin stared at the jewelry in astonishment, only flickering up once to see her boyfriend's completely sincere expression._

"_Is that size necessary?" She blurted out mindlessly, slapping a hand over her mouth seconds later._

_Tony raised an eyebrow. "It is if you're getting married to me," he offered._

_She could feel her knees hit the floor, and her hands reach up to cup his face. "Are you sure?"_

_He smirked. "Hell yes." _

_She felt herself tearing up and nodding at the same time, sliding her arms back around Tony's neck and kissing him hard. "This isn't really how people propose," he murmured, surreptitiously sliding the ring on her finger. Ana didn't protest. _

"_Since when are we conventional?" She shot back, and he smiling against her lips before pulling her down on top of him slowly. _

_Suffice to say those two hours were well spent._

AAA

The billionaire had stood up, and the rest of the Avengers stared at them both in shock. Tony? Married? Those two words didn't even belong in the same sentence together.

To the surprise of the onlookers, Ana simply smiled. She reached down the shirt part of her bodysuit, pulling out a ring on a chain. She looped it off her neck, and the huge diamond and tiny circlet rested in the palm of her hand. "Oh Tony… You didn't have to ask again."

She collapsed into his arms, and he lifted her against his chest tightly. She buried her head in his neck, and only Tony ever knew about the tears she shed in those few, weak moments. He immediately slid the ring back into its rightful place.

Clint reluctantly stepped forward. "Um, guys? Can we put a hold on the love-fest for a few seconds? Natasha's weight sort of… dislocated your shoulder, Ana. All the pain meds you took on the helicopter numbed everything."

Ana pulled away from Tony. "Sure, Clint. You know, those Russians knew what they were doing when they were making their pain meds. No side effects… I think." She stood from her fiancé's lap, swaying slightly from exhaustion. Natasha had already been laid on the couch with her leg propped off. "But then I'm going to bed," she added.

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Correction, my dear," he interceded. "I think –careful with my fiancé there, Katniss!- you shouldn't be walking upstairs with that leg."

Ana shot him a dubious look. "So I'm supposed to sleep down here?"

Bruce looked over at her, smiling. "We did."

"Yeah, almost every night for those of us who didn't have experiments and jobs," Steve put in, watching as Clint and Thor each got in their hugs that they had previously been denied, running errands and such.

Ana yawned. "Well, no matter where I'm going to sleep, I'm going now," she warned, before Tony moved forward and caught her in his arms.

"Capsicle, Point Break, pillows please?" Tony asked, swiftly getting his balance and standing with his baby doll in his arms.

The two men quickly ran over to the nearby closet, opening it to allow all the content to spill out on the floor. Clint and Bruce quickly made up two decent beds for the injured ladies, and Thor and Steve dumped the rest of the blankets, pillows, and sheets on the floor. Bruce and Tony laid their respective significant others down, and the rest of the men lay out and snuggled into the blankets. Most fell quickly asleep, until there were only two Avengers left awake.

Steve kept feeling the urge to sit up, to make sure everyone was really there, and no one was missing. "JARVIS?" He yawned. "Wake me up to make more pancakes tomorrow. Maybe Tash can help; Bruce has been lost without her chocolate chip ones."

"Of course, Captain Rodgers."

"Thanks JARVIS." Steve laid a hand on Thor's shoulder and turned into the locks of Ana's hair, just able to smell that slight vanilla scent. He fell asleep happy.

Ana, contrary to her display earlier, was wide awake, listening to the chorus of snores coming from her teammates. Bruce, Natasha, and Tony were on her left, and Steve, Thor, and Clint were on her right. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes to enjoy the silence. The perfect, comfortable, and beautiful silence. She was going to try to get some sleep before the next idiot villain attempted to kill them all and/or take over the world.

Because, you know, life is all in all about shit hitting the fan... on repeat. But that's okay, because it's not about the problems you have, it's about facing them. It's about the people that help you clean your metaphorical fan, that gently and methodically wipe out the red in your ledger. It's about those same people that refuse to let you go, that love you even when your fan stops working.

So, yeah, shit hits the fan. But you get back up, you call your cleaners. And if you're lucky, one of them will have a fan that perfectly... ludicrously, compliments yours.

That said, people say life's a journey. And they're right. But most of them neglect to notice the hell of a view you get -not at the top, but along the way.

And those are the only ones that are truly _born to die_.

_El Finis_

AAA

_Thank you all so much for reading this little bugger through! I'm so sorry for not updating earlier, lots of life issues, and I seriously loved this story so much I didn't want to finish it!_

_So, I don't really do sequels, but I'm considering doing a wedding one-shot… What do you guys think? I'd love your opinions!_

_Thanks again so much!_

_Hugs and kisses and green rage monsters, _

_Lalala777_


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